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Finding the right candidate in today’s competitive job market is no less than a Herculean feat. There are a lot of factors outside your control that can affect your candidate search, like a limited candidate pool or budget constraints. But what you can control to ensure a successful hire is to begin with a persuasive pitch – create a job ad that attracts the best talent.
And to do that, it’s important to know where and how you can tap into a candidate pool that maximizes your chances of finding the best hire. That’s why you must develop a strategy that utilizes your resources to create job postings across both free and premium job boards to increase your chances of getting found by relevant candidates.
Essentials to Craft Compelling Job Postings
If you what to know how to create a good job posting, that will have your inbox flooding with applications, here’s the essentials you should consider:
1. Job Title
The job title in your posting is what catches the eye of a prospective candidate, right off the bat. So, keep it clear, concise, and professional. For instance, if you’re looking for a Social Media Manager, make sure your job title says just that.
Besides, using relevant and professional terms also makes your posting keyword friendly, which makes it easier to find for people who’re actively looking for a similar job.
2. Company Information
This is the part where you highlight why a candidate should apply to your company and not others. When you create a job posting, it is also an opportunity for you to market your brand.
So, emphasize what you stand for as a brand, what’s unique about you and your mission. You can also highlight company values and workplace culture to appeal to the candidate as a prospective employer.
3. Job Description
Your job description creates the first impression that would tempt a job seeker to hit ‘apply.’ So, you must write job descriptions in a way that increases the likeliness of receiving more applications. Refrain from adding a long list of responsibilities which can seem intimidating or unfocused. Include a few primary ones within 5 bullet points so an applicant has an idea of what the role entails.
You can also highlight other alluring prospects of the job like career growth, work-life balance and networking opportunities which can actually be appealing to job seekers looking for a long-term opportunity.
4. Qualifications
This bit is pretty cut and dry and should list the technical qualifications and certifications for the job. But to widen your candidate pool, you must list your qualifications carefully.
For instance, you don’t want to miss out on a prospective candidate just because they don’t have a particular degree, which may not even be relevant to the operational requirements of the job. You can also substitute typical phrases like ‘requirements’ which convey a stricter tone to more inclusive options like ‘preferred qualifications.’
5. Benefits and Perks
Highlighting perks are the best way of conveying how a company cares for its employees.
A LinkedIn survey report revealed that 94% of employees would stay with their present employers if they showed active interest in their career development.
Similarly, a company offering remote, or hybrid work options will have more applications than a company offering only on-site options for the same role. So, money isn’t the only thing that draws job seekers to a job posting.
6. Application Process
Having an easy and streamlined application process is one of the easiest ways to have candidates who can convert into employees.
A survey revealed that only 8% of candidates who apply for a job actually complete the entire application process. So, 92% of them just abandon it halfway because the process is either too long or too complex.
To hasten the application process, companies can actually opt for integrated solutions that have an applicant tracking system (ATS) that can be linked directly to a job board.
Optimize your Job Postings
1. Keyword friendly
Most job seekers use LinkedIn, Indeed or other similar platforms, which are heavily keyword reliant, to find opportunities they’re interested in. That’s why, when you create a job posting, make sure it’s keyword friendly. Use a suitable keyword in the job title. It is also good practice to scatter relevant keywords throughout your job description, responsibilities, company overview and qualifications.
2. Action verbs
Use action verbs to describe the daily responsibilities for a job. This will not only create a purpose driven impression of the job posting, but also allow for a more engaging tone.
3. Language and Clarity
Use clear and engaging language to phrase your posting. Get them reviewed by different people to catch anything that might come off as exclusionary or discriminatory. This also reduces the risk of projecting unconscious bias.
4. Versatility
Craft your job descriptions in a compelling and versatile manner so that they can be adjusted for multiple job boards and target different candidate pools.
Choosing the Right Job Boards
With the overwhelming number of widely used free and premium job boards, choosing the right one(s) to create a job posting on can be difficult. To narrow down your options and maximize the impact of your hiring campaigns, here’s some factors you can consider:
1. Industry
This is a very important consideration, especially when it comes to looking for candidates in a specialized niche. Say, for instance, you’re trying to create a candidate pipeline for an industry that requires extremely specialized professionals. You would need to source passive candidates and open job boards may not be as helpful for you as specialized industry specific job boards can be.
2. Candidate pool
Analyzing the candidate pool before launching hiring campaigns can help you maximize the impact of your job postings. Most job boards come with features to analyze the demographic of your applicants, so you already have an idea of their job titles and qualifications. You can use these insights to further optimize your targeted audiences.
3. Budget
Budget is an important factor, especially when it comes to premium job boards. Most premium boards charge you according to the duration your ad’s going to be up for and the size of target audience your ad should come across. Keeping your budget in mind can further help you optimize the use of metrics when you create a job posting.
4. Features
Both free and premium job boards offer numerous features that can empower you to create targeted job ads that lead to a lower cost-per-hire. But more often than not, you may end up paying for features you don’t even require. So, list your requirements and strategy before you start spending the big bucks to create a job posting.
To Summarize
Your hiring campaigns are crucial for building a reliable workforce. To attract top talent that can convert into employees who are qualified and can deliver tangible results, it is important to clarify the expectations for the role and the company, right from the start. And you set the foundation for this transparency when you create a job posting.
You can consider implementing recruitment management software like an ATS to drive efficiency. This ensures you have higher chances of matching with people who have genuine interest in the opportunity and are well-matched for your company’s needs. That way, you’re not just meeting immediate hiring needs but rather are actually investing in your organization’s future success.
Which job boards do you prefer posting your job ads on? Let us know in the comments!
