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How To Write A Job Listing That Attracts Top-Notch Employees

Recruiting new employees is no easy task. Here are some proven best practices to keep in mind before you post your next job listing.

Recruiting new employees is no joke. Finding the right people is a task that rests on every founders’ shoulders. Add in staffing budget and time constraints, and it’s no wonder why recruiting is considered one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

However, don’t lose heart. There are some proven best practices to keep in mind before you post your next job listing.

 

1. Get the job title right

When you write a job listing, keep in mind that most roles have pretty straightforward titles. If you try to sound hip or catchy you could confuse potential applicants. The job title is one of the first things an applicant sees in a job ad, so it needs to immediately make sense or they will simply skip over it.

One example is “Chief Happiness Officer” instead of “HR Benefits Specialist.” There’s also the absurd-sounding “Wet Leisure Assistant” instead of “Lifeguard.”

However, there are companies that want to break the mold. Others simply want to be consistent with their messaging across the board, including HR, and therefore, use creative job titles.

A Forbes article lists some examples:

 

  • VP of Miscellaneous Stuff (Quicken Loans) for someone who does a bit of everything

  • Director of First Impressions (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) instead of receptionist

  • Master of Disaster (MapInfo Corp.) for someone who helps government authorities – federal, state, and local – with access to information to quickly recover from calamities

 

Bottom line: Whichever job title route you take, make sure the job title is clear and understandable.

 

2. Know where and when to post

There’s no shortage of job boards to choose from nowadays. However, posting on all of them for the sake of posting would eat into your budget. If you’re looking to quickly fill a position, post your job listings in places your target candidates frequent.

 

Photo: © lightwavemedia, YFS Magazine

Depending on the talent pool you’re targeting, you can post a job listing in commonly frequented sites like LinkedIn — it’s still the biggest professional networking site. You can also post on Indeed, which attracts approximately 200 million unique visitors per month — arguably one of the biggest online job boards in the world. Here’s a step-by-step guide to posting your first job ad on Indeed.

Now, if you’re looking for niche-specific job boards, here’s a list of 100 compiled by Good & Co. Examples of the niches included are:

 

  • Tech and programming

  • Retail

  • Healthcare

  • Philanthropy

  • Taxi driving

 

While it’s prudent to keep a tight leash on your recruitment budget, paying for premium listings on job boards has its perks, such as wider reach and appearance above free listings in search results.

Several job boards also offer pay-for-performance models. Meaning, you can pay per click or per applicant. Another thing to keep in mind: Don’t just post when you feel like it. Fridays, especially in the evenings, are a no-no. Instead, “wait until Sunday evening or Monday or Tuesday morning,” according to Talent Culture.

 

3. Be clear about your job requirements

Your requirements filter qualified applicants from the entire pool of applicants. Thus, you need to be very clear about the position if you want to land top talent. 

Do this by separating must-haves such as experience, expertise, and educational background from “recommended but not required” items like software familiarity, or related training and certifications.

 

Photo: © djile, YFS Magazine

 

4. Don’t oversell the position

Never make exaggerated claims to attract potential applicants. Not only are you creating false expectations, you’re also attracting the wrong people. 

Instead, include salary and other compensation details.

Most job boards allow you to designate a salary range to give applicants an idea of what to expect if hired. You can also include your company’s story, an industry overview, and what role the open position will entail for the qualified candidate.

 

Final thoughts

Even in the age of social media, job boards aren’t going away anytime soon. They still stand as go-to platforms for both recruiters and applicants. If you have time or budget constraints, it pays to keep the above best practices in mind when you write a job listing.

Remember, you’re hiring not just to fill an empty spot, but to hire long-term contributors to your contribute to your company’s success.

 

This article has been edited.

Maricel Rivera is a freelance writer, editor, and content marketer whose work appear on sites such as Business.com, Business 2 Community, CustomerThink, TweakYourBiz, among many others. She’s also the owner of RiveraWrites, a content development and marketing company. Connect with @rivera_writes on Twitter.

 

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