No Better Time than Now to Improve Job Posting Results

By: The Recruiting Training Corner

There is no better time than now to reexamine your job descriptions and determine if your job postings are achieving the results you were expecting. Are they helping you find employees? Are they telling a compelling story? Are they attracting the best pool of job seekers for your position? Whether your organization has a handful of open opportunities or hundreds, you can use the same evaluation points to determine effectiveness. Here are 5 tips to keep in mind:

Tip #1: Use Keywords in your Job Title

Your job advertisement serves different purposes; it can demystify a job position, provide clarity and set one opportunity apart from another. In a market flooded with job seekers, you will want to be the first recruiter to speak to that highly qualified job seeker.

By focusing on formatting, including call outs such as employee benefits and unique job qualifications as well as the job title, you will increase the chances of your posting returning your ideal job seeker in search results.

There’s another, more technical reason for creating a clear title and well-written job. A large percentage of job seekers search Monster using only keyword and location. By incorporating keywords that are associated with your job in the title and description, you will make your job posting searchable via search engine optimzation. Thus your job posting will become more relevant to the job seeker and will appear higher in a job seeker’s search results.

Remember to use words that are relevant to the profession. If there is more than one way to refer to a position or role, it’s best to use both. Stay clear of internal language and acronyms that are well not recognized in the industry. Example: Infectious Diseases Nurse (RN).

Tip #2: Speak to Top Performers

Job postings are a recruiter’s introduction to job seekers. Seekers form an opinion of the person responsible for creating the posting. Be sure that the impression you make is positive. An easy way to do this is by creating a posting that clearly states that you understand the position. Target the candidates you are seeking and speak their language. Attract top talent you identify through networking and referrals to that job posting. Make it clear that you are in control of the process and are anxious to speak with them.

Top performers know what a job entails. Since they have a choice of where they work, they are interested in hearing why they should work for your company rather than your competition.

Your approach will vary by discipline and candidate level, but there should be considerable thought given to your strategy for targeting the best of the best. As we all know, top performers DO read Internet job postings!

Tip #3: Formatting Matters

Once you know what you want to include in your posting, utilize a consistent format to convey the information. Not only will this make it easy for seekers to recognize your posting, it will also maximize the chance that they read important information. Additionally, consistency across all of your organization’s job postings will send a confident and strong marketing message to the seekers who may like what they see on one posting and then view other postings.

Company Information should be consistent across all postings. Be clear about how you describe your company’s legacy: its websites, how many years in business, how many people it employs, etc.

Start with the job description. Monster search results include both a hover view that includes the first few lines of the job posting as well as a detailed view of the job listing. You can leverage this format by putting the job description at the top of your posting rather than starting with the company description.

Provide a physical location for the job. When you provide Monster with a physical address for the position, we can add your opportunity to the map view of job seeker search results. Your opportunity can be seen in relation to other positions in the area and as mentioned above, the job seeker can hover over your location indicator for a glimpse at you job posting description.

Separate the requirements for a position into two sections. First, include the position’s basic requirements and then the preferred requirements, or ‘nice to have’ skills.

Highlight the job’s benefits to close the deal. Be sure to leverage anything competitive about your company or your client’s organization. You can find this information directly from the company’s website or by asking.

Create a clear call to action. Tell them what to do next, Apply Online.

Include salary information. Job seeker feedback tells us time and time again that they want to see salary or salary ranges linked to a specific position. Again, keep in mind the streamlined display of search results on Monster. When no salary is listed, Monster provides a market data salary range. Get out in front of your competitors with salary. Not only is this element a great differentiator, it will help set proper expectations and encourage the most qualified job seekers to respond to your opportunity.

Formatting counts. If you are not utilizing a custom template for your postings, experiment with basic HTML or use of the formatting toolbar. Remember, an Internet job posting is unconstrained by space, but a job seeker’s attention span IS! Consider formatting with bulleted lists, rather than paragraphs, to make your posting easier to read and scan. Bolding paragraph headings is also an easy way to attract eyes to important content.

Tip #4: The Follow-up

The number one job seeker complaint is that employers never acknowledge receipt of their resumes. If you are not doing this, that means you are not thanking them for their interest in your organization. This means you are NOT viewing them as consumers. Think about the fact that you are also hoping to sell them or someone they know your product or service down the road!

Following up can be as simple as utilizing Auto-Response Letters to acknowledge receipt of their resume submission. Job seekers say that is enough. At least they know the technology worked. If you really want to stand out, experiment with sending a customized letters based on screening results, send a letter after you have reviewed and considered their resume, or include a marketing message or a request for referral.

Tip #5: Capitalize on your Brand…or Create One

The Internet has provided job seekers with something they never had before, CHOICE. How you position your company culture and package the opportunity has become increasingly important.

Technology has made it easy for you to graphically enhance your postings. In fact, they can look as if they are housed on your own corporate web site. There are plenty of examples out there. You have seen them…and most likely remember seeing them. That is the point. You want job seekers to REMEMBER having seen your ad. The best way to do this is to leverage your brand.

Corporations spend millions of dollars to increase brand awareness and recognition to drive consumers to particular products or services. When you create and leverage your brand throughout the recruitment process, you further establish yourself as a serious company with a streamlined message.

Remember to view job seekers as consumers. We all have something to sell. Corporations focus on your most important requisitions. Remember that the recruiting process cannot leave a bad taste with your consumers.

The goal of Internet recruiting is to bring top talent into client organizations. A well-executed job posting can do just that, but it can ALSO bring a new consumer to your brand. Sounds a lot like marketing, doesn’t’ it?

If you don’t feel that you HAVE a brand, it is relatively easy to build an employer brand. Just remember that consistency is critical. Every time you create a posting, it could potentially be viewed by thousands of people. The impression you leave can be lasting. It is definitely worth your time to make it right.