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First impressions count! Don't let potential applicants slip through the net because of a poor job description! It’s such an easy part of the recruitment process to downfall on, but also one of the easiest to fix.
The aim of the game? Making yourself stand out by proving that your business has something special to offer. Make candidates eager to become a part of your team and committed to the journey with you.
Here are our main pointers:
Don’t just talk about the role and what the candidate will be expected to do, discuss what the role can also do for them. Talk about the exciting projects employees get to work on. Discuss career development and opportunities for growth. Travel opportunities, flexibility, health care and reward schemes. Anything that you do to the benefit of your employees that candidates will find attractive. Then make that information trustworthy. Back It up with examples and get your employees to share their experience first-hand.
Every piece of online content should be optimised and written around relevant keyphrases. If you want your jobs to be found, you need to write them with keywords to make them searchable. Use keywords and industry recognised titles which are relevant to the job role that candidates are likely to search for. They’re less likely to search for Data Guru over a Data Scientist, or a Growth Hacker over a Marketing Executive.
Avoid using too many buzz words, jargon, or technical terms too specific to understand unless necessary.
It's also more important than ever before to be cautious around the language you use. Consider if the words and phrases you are using could have other meanings, connotations, or interpretations of a particular demographic like gender, race, or age. For example, the word “dominant” is often perceived as masculine.
We understand there’s often a lot to say and a long list of information you’d like to include, but it's worth knowing that the active job seeker will averagely review 10 ads for every one job they apply to. Would you want to read 10 long, boring job ads back to back? So, make sure yours are concise. Keep the overview brief and catch your applicants’ interest within the 1st paragraph.
If you're willing to, it can be beneficial to state the salary range you'd offer. Not only will it make it clear the seniority of the role and get rid of the time-wasters who expect more, but it’s also said to help your vacancies rank higher, and if they rank higher, more candidates will see it, equalling more applicants.
Company culture has become one of the biggest deciders when accepting a job opportunity. 5,000 respondents from Glassdoors 2019 Mission & Culture Survey said that company culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction. So, you're behind with the times if you think a competitive salary alone will sell the role. Although we are not disputing its importance, it is only one part of the ‘package deal’.
It’s easy to get carried away thinking about the ‘dream’ applicant that can do everything, but in the real world, candidates will likely have one specific skill set. So, don’t expect a sales advisor to know how to fix computers, instead, expect them to have experience of delivering great customer service. Including a long list of requirements will only risk putting candidates off who feel they don’t meet enough of them. You can list extra skills, but make sure it’s clear that they’re not essential and consider if what you’re asking for is, in fact, multiple job roles in one.
At Career Kinetics we know and understand that hiring managers and recruiters don’t always get the time to craft the perfect description, that’s why we are here to help!
We can write, optimise, and post the vacancy.
If you think there’s an area in your recruitment you believe we could help with, get in touch.
