How to Craft the Perfect Job Posting

Your company’s success largely depends on its ability to acquire talented new candidates who can bri...



Posted by Lisa Farrell, Marketing Manager on December 10 2015
Lisa Farrell, Marketing Manager

Your company’s success largely depends on its ability to acquire talented new candidates who can bring new skills and perspectives to your staff. Attracting those individuals intentionally is critical—you can’t countoptimize_job__posting on them stumbling upon your website by accident. That means optimizing your job postings to match what the modern candidate is looking for, along with the best practices for online advertisement. Luckily, it isn’t as complicated as it sounds—here are four essential tips to bear in mind:

1. Factor in the human element
Don’t let your job posting sound like it was written by robots. As Forbes pointed out, employers who post things like “The Preferred Candidate will possess certain skills” are speaking through candidates, not to them. Consider how you would talk to a friend about the job—how would you convince him or her it’s a great position? There are thousands and thousands of job descriptions that use boring language and basic format to describe a position. Don’t just explain the job, use your personality to make it shine.

“Your job description should sit in the Goldilocks zone in terms of length.”

2. Not too long, not too short
You want your job description to sit in the Goldilocks zone in terms of length—just right. Candidates’ eyes may gloss over if they have to read 1,000 words on a new position. If you must make it long, break up the content—use bullet points, videos, and short, punchy paragraphs. That will help your SEO, too. Blocks of text don’t perform well on today’s search engines.

3. Find the right audience
Your ad will live on your website, but it’s also important to post links wherever you think your target candidates will be looking. If your company is looking for someone with Spanish language skills, maybe you find universities with Spanish majors, or seek out relevant LinkedIn groups. Consider whom you’re seeking and determine the best place to reach that kind of person.

4. Drive your readers to apply
What good is an advertisement that doesn’t bring people to the store? Similarly, what good is a job description that doesn’t move candidates to apply? SimplyHired recommends driving interested job seekers to the application process by providing instructions, links, and relavant job openings. The best organizations rely on an applicant tracking system (ATS) to streamline that whole process. That makes it easier for candidates to send in their applications and easier for you to sort through them to find the best.

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A job ad is still an ad—it’s important to think like a marketer. However, it’s just as crucial to speak to individuals on a personal level. After all, they aren’t buying a product; they’re considering their career—tell them why your company is in their best interest.

 

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