5 Tips to Create Clear and Compelling Job Postings

For many companies, hiring is like fishing. They drop the bait and hope candidates come. No wonder more than 65 percent of companies complain they can’t find good matches. Many companies think the problem is a lack of good candidates, but often, it’s their lack of advertising effectiveness that fails to catch the talent’s attention. Considering that 65 million people searched for jobs in 2016, you need a way to attract the best talent.

Make a Good Impression

Using an applicant tracking system, recruiters can keep track of how applicants find their listings. Research shows that branching out across multiple advertising channels, rather than sticking to one job board, is far more effective in attracting more candidates. It also targets the right ones for the job. A great opportunity for attracting top talent is posting on social media sites.

Keep It Short

Today, people have an average attention span of nine seconds. Tired job seekers who do most of their job hunting after work or at night are especially weary. The last thing they want is to wade through lengthy text for a job description. As part of your recruiting solutions, you should format job descriptions for mobile devices that job seekers can easily scan and ultimately apply for. Using bullet points, ideally starting with a verb, works best.

Tell It Like It Is

Candidates are only human. They want to know what’s in it for them. Therefore, a job advertisement that tells them right up front what they’ll be getting into is much more likely to get attention. In four short lines, you should say what the job is, what makes it stand out from others in the industry, and what skills and experience are required. End with a call to action. Posting the requisite job skills for the position is important in this part as recruiters ultimately hire more than 75 percent of applicants based on their qualifications alone.

Use Visuals

Images are increasingly important in the world of business. They can play a role in your job postings, too. Photographs and images of the company and its employees catch job seekers’ attention more than text. You can also post a short video describing the job position. This tactic is especially important in the media industry and other fields where creativity is vital.

Post the Salary

One essential piece of information that should be posted in your recruitment system, no matter where you advertise, is salary. Perhaps not surprisingly, knowing the pay and benefits they’ll get is one of the biggest motivators for candidates to apply. In fact, research shows that 67 percent of job seekers say salary is the primary reason that they submit an application. Company perks and benefits are a close second. Therefore, all this information should be displayed on your posting.

Even though unemployment rates are down, job growth and hiring haven’t slowed. Considering millions of people are still searching for jobs, and they can be more selective about where they apply, you need to make your job postings stand out. Casting a wide advertising net, creating short, mobile-friendly listings, including benefits and salary, and using creative visuals will get the attention of top candidates.