Job postings are a big deal. After all, this is the first thing that a potential employee will read from your company, and as such, you must not only make a good impression, but accurately convey what the open position is like in order to attract the right interviewees. Therefore, you should invest some time and effort into crafting excellent job postings, regardless of the employee you are looking for.
That said, in the enterprise IT sector, it is even more critical to create listing that is above average. This industry is competitive and complex, and you don’t want to waste a single moment responding to individuals who misread or misunderstood your job post.
You likely have plenty of experience writing this kind of content, but do you know how to optimize that process and improve the results of posting job openings online? Here are some tips to help you create the best possible open employment listings.
“Crafting the “ideal profile” of the person you’re looking for.”
Identify the “ideal”
Before starting the hiring process at all, you should have an accurate idea of who you want to hire with respect to skill sets, personalities and work ethics. Therefore, Patsy Svare of The Chatfield Group recommended crafting the “ideal” profile of the person you’re looking for, in a recent response on Workforce.
Svare wrote that you should first seek out experts in the sector or skill set that you need to fill. This way, they can offer you specific ideas on what daily responsibilities are required for the open position. Second, Svare said to think about the type of job experience and professional or education training is necessary to succeed. After that, focus on the soft skills: Does the role need to work well with others? Does it require self-management? Ask these questions until you have a model employee.
Title
Now, you need to think about writing the actual post. The first step is identifying the job title. Dice recommended avoiding “buzzwords” that encompass too broad of a skill set and never including any jargon such as “immediate hire.” Additionally, the source suggested getting right to the point. This means stating the job title as plainly as possible with very few variables. This will help potential employees quickly identify if they are suitable for the role, since the titles could match their past ones.
Keywords
In the same vein as above, future new hires are typically looking for specific keywords related to their respective fields, and if a job posting board has a search function, then using those key terms is even more important.
But, you might not know the tech industry. So do some research and determine which keywords will best match the skills and technological prowess that you’re looking for.
Let potential employees know exactly who you need on your team by giving them all the information they need.
Company
Potential employees will always want to know what company they are going to see. While this shouldn’t take up too much space in a job posting, it is very important to briefly explain your organization’s values or mission statement. This will ensure that interviewees know what they’re getting themselves into before coming into your office.
Timing
When you post an open job matters – at least according to Wendi Weiner, contributor to Forbes. She wrote that individuals typically start looking for a new position four to six weeks before they hope to begin employment. Keep this in mind when posting openings, and consider any landmark dates that might fall four or six weeks away.
Spread the word
You don’t need to post a job on social media to take advantage of those channels’ benefits. Link your openings on all social sites, and ask co-workers to share, retweet and like.
It might sound simple to create a job posting, but you must invest more in this process if you want to get more out of it.