Optimise your Recruitment Strategy for Economics PhD Positions

Every year, October is the peak time for future PhD candidates in economics to start applying for their first-choice positions. For those students who want to stay in their current institutions, the process may be fairly straightforward. However, for candidates seeking opportunities internationally or simply at a different university, the prospect and the process may be somewhat more daunting.

Candidates can find more information in our guide on how to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics.

For institutions aiming to find the best international talent for their PhD positions, the most important question is how to reach the right audience, primarily current master’s students. You don’t want to waste all your budget chasing after the wrong candidates.

Unlike bachelor or master’s level, the pool of potential PhD candidates is much smaller and they will already know which discipline or disciplines their interests align with. Therefore, it's best to target your recruitment efforts and be as specific as possible.

With a strong user base of current students, INOMICS is an excellent platform  to publish your PhD position in economics (or a PhD position in another discipline that is open to current economics students). Additionally our active blog and advice articles, not to mention our resources for economics students means that more students find INOMICS every day. To achieve the best results from your Announcement, be sure to consider the following recommendations. 

Program vs Job Opening

One of the main questions faced by people publicizing their PhDs on INOMICS, is whether their advert should be advertised as a program, a scholarship or a job opening. The difference is important as many candidates restrict their search by the type of offer.

Programs

Students who want to transfer into PhD positions straight from their Master or Diploma degree tend to look first at the program section on INOMICS, being in a “campus mentality”, and aiming to find a structured program. 

PhD Candidates looking for programs make up the largest audience and generate the most searches. On INOMICS, student recruiters  will get the best response by promoting their program through this section.

Scholarship

Students primarily looking for research funding, so that they can conduct research in pursuit of a PhD at their current university, or at a research institute where they are currently working, often look first at the scholarships section on INOMICS. This section is therefore best suited for PhD funding that is independent of location or institution.

Job Opening

Students who have either already obtained practical experiences or see their PhD positions as a launch for their academic careers, are more likely to start searching in the jobs section on INOMICS. These candidates are most likely to be interested in paid positions, and consider their PhD to be first and foremost a job with a qualification in parallel.

Advertising PhD positions in this way may have the advantage that it attracts the attention of candidates who are not certain whether to continue their studies or apply for a job, and so might decide in favor of a PhD position rather than applying for a job in a different organization. Of course, this option is only possible (and desirable) for those positions with secured funding.

If you want to advertise your PhD position for both categories, then please contact our team at info@inomics.com, and we will work out something that meets your needs.

Add Keywords to Your Title

A generic title like “PhD Program” or “PhD position in the Department of Economics” are too vague. Your title should include key information, like if the PhD position is in a certain subdiscipline (eg. Labor Economics), if there is funding (“Funded” or “Scholarships Available”) and what university is offering the position (eg. London School of Economics).

This will make your posting stand out to visitors to INOMICS and more likely to appear in search engine result pages.

Use heading to break up information

People like to skim web pages. This is true even for information as important as a PhD position they want to apply to. Adding headings between your paragraphs such as “program description”, “funding” and “requirements” makes it easier for candidates to find the information they are looking for. Many candidates want to check they are eligible to apply for a PhD position first before reading the long description. Help people quickly filter out the right opportunities for them by adding headings and making it more likely the right candidates read on.

Promote Your Listings

Posting your position on your institution’s website and external hubs like INOMICS is only the first step. Remember to share your Announcement on social media via your faculty account and be sure to get your colleagues to post as well. This is a great way to increase the reach of your announcement.

INOMICS helps put your Announcement in-front of potential candidates in economics across the web, email and social media, increasing your chances of success. To really increase the number of candidates seeing your announcement, use one of our more advanced promotion options or try our Multi-Channel Promotion. This offers recruiters a blend of content marketing, social media and email advertising to increase the reach of the listing. Be sure to speak to our Sales Team at info@inomics.com to customise the right package for your institution's position, or check out our publish page for our latest pricing.

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