A GUIDE TO CREATING BETTER JOB POSTINGS

One of the most important steps in securing the right talent is to attract the right talent with a compelling job preview. More than simply listing job duties, a job posting is your first — and sometimes only — chance to sell your opportunity. It must introduce the company and entice the applicant to take the next step in the hiring process. It should provide enough detail to answer two key questions:

• Could I be right for this job?
• Could this job be right for me?

To set the stage for successful hires, create job postings that reflect the five guiding principles that follow. They can help you attract applicants with not only the skills and experience to do the job but the character and energy to help your organization thrive.

Articulate:

Create a job description that helps candidates visualize themselves in the role as a happy, successful contributor with responsibilities that make a difference to the team. Beyond required hard skills, include desired soft skills and personal qualities that will ensure a candidate will be successful. Be neither too narrow nor too broad in your prerequisites; flexibility allows for future growth in a role.

Optimize:

Provide a user-friendly experience, with postings that are easy to read and access. 

• Use Google Trends to create job titles, terms, and phrases your ideal candidates are most likely to search for
• Use bullet points and keywords that capture attention 
• Use large, purposeful subheads to aid skim readers
• Use bold words — sparingly but meaningfully — to draw attention to certain text 
• Be concise and precise, transmitting only information that is necessary and of interest 
• Avoid jargon, slang, acronyms, ALL CAPS, and unnecessary callouts like “WANTED” or “HURRY!”

Highlight:

Grab attention with your first three lines. Showcase your brand culture. Say what candidates can accomplish more so than what they must do. Differentiate your company with clear descriptions of benefits and amenities as well. Simply saying “competitive benefits package” isn’t enough. Connect on a personal level, focusing on positives and helping candidates visualize themselves in the role.

Help:

Find the right balance between encouraging poor-fit candidates to walk away and enticing the right candidates to continue through the application process. Include a strong call to action that reiterates your ideal candidates’ strengths and then set realistic expectations about next steps. Make the application process straightforward and easy as well. 

Share:

The job description is prime real estate — don’t waste it with generic company boilerplate. Paint a clear picture of life inside the company. Candidates are interested in more than filling a role — they’re interested in long-term job satisfaction and career growth. Job seekers expect a healthy corporate culture, values that align with their own, industry best practices, and social responsibility.

Bonus tip:

Before you begin, check with people who have worked in and around the job to find out what they view as most important to success. While you’re at it, ask about the best aspects of their jobs and the company. Then before you go public, get feedback on the finished product and test access using multiple devices to check the experience across different sources.

Set up your organization for hiring success

A job posting is often a candidate’s first exposure to your organization. Make it count! Showcase what’s great about your company to tip the scales for high-value candidates. Turn every job description into a marketing tool for the role, your team, and your company. Most of all, make sure it serves as an opportunity for the right candidate’s personal growth and success. 

For additional guidance on hiring success, talk to an expert. Spherion is a national recruiting and staffing enterprise that brings the power of local to our job seekers and employers through a network of independent and empowered franchise owners, backed by the global leader in HR services.