The Internet is a much different medium than traditional classified ads. It lets you present as much information as you need to completely and accurately describe your jobs, but it rewards you for being creative and succinct. This seeming contradiction is at the heart of making your job postings effective at finding and drawing out the exact right kind of applicant. Here are four ways you can write effective job postings that will help you find the right person for every job.
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- Explain It in Detail
No longer are you constrained by the limits of a physical ad. Think about it. If you need to explain exactly what credentials are required of an applicant for your position, or what precise experience you want to see, you have the space to put down exactly what you want to say. And it costs you no more to expand on the requirements in detail.
- Be Creative
Remember, the job seeker is judging your posting on very limited exposure. You have key words, the position title, and to a lesser degree, the short job description, to make a fleeting impression on a web surfer. If you want a C++ Programmer, that must be included in the position title; if you need a specific type of person, let them know right up front.
- Be Specific and Descriptive
- Make the job title descriptive to entice the job seeker to look further. Avoid generic job titles such as Developer or Programmer when you can tell the job seeker what language or specialty you need.
- Make the short job description clear. This description is the first thing that a job seeker sees and creates the first impression of the job and the company. Frequently, this short description appears in the search that your job board provides to the job seeker. Therefore, the short job descriptions must catch the job seeker's attention and be clear, high-impact, and directed. The text should quickly and explicitly capture the one or two features most appealing about the career opportunity. You need to put yourself in the seeker's shoes and think about what will grab their attention.
- The long job description can be LONG. This is the part of the job posting where you can give the job seeker as much information as you think will help your case. Remember, you want to persuade the right person to reply, (and to discourage those wannabee's that will only clog up your email inbox) and this lets you strut your stuff.
- Make the Description Appealing and Relevant
This is the place for a complete listing of requirements, competencies, traits, skills, background, education, experience, training, highly desirable features and even some "nice to haves." This is where your requirements describe the kind of person your company is really looking for.
A lot of candidates now are really interested in the values of the company where they work. Remember to include a sound, responsible description of the company and its goal statement, management style, advancement policies, status in the industry, prospects for the future, geographic distribution, history, and so on. You can even accomplish this by setting up links to your corporate home page.
Where a job seeker works can also be an important factor. You can include a description of the job's physical location, the community where you work and live. Even if travel is part of the job, the job seeker needs to know about the living conditions and environment of a potential new home.
Remember details such as salary, benefits, where to send the resume, the contact person, where to discover more about the company, whether the job is full time or contractual, the target start date, whether your company will relocate the appropriate candidate, whether you sponsor H-1 Visas and other details that will help the job seeker determine whether to submit a resume. Remember, you don't want to wade through a resume of a job seeker that doesn't fit.
Finally, remember that your job is to attract the right candidate.
