Hiring? How to write job postings to attract better candidates
If you’re looking to hire new talent, one of the best places to put your job opening with our sponsor, LinkedIn. It has nearly 800 million members, which means you have access to an enormous pool of talented workers. Employers like you love it for its detailed features that let you weed out poor matches and hone in on the best possible candidates.
For example, you can ask screening questions. Say you have a position that requires familiarity with Excel. You can ask all candidates if they’ve used it before and screen out those who haven’t.
Get this: 80% of LinkedIn Jobs postings with these questions get a qualified applicant within a day. But that’s just one way to find your next all-star worker. Here are seven easy ways to create strong job postings that attract the best and brightest workers.
1. Write a clear job description
According to LinkedIn, it takes candidates 14 seconds to decide whether they want to apply to your job or not. One way to convince them to keep reading is to have a well-structured job description that’s easy to understand. Use bullet points and strong wording to make them understand what they need to do in a snap.
Avoid vague wording at all costs. Make sure you’re using recognizable job titles like “receptionist” instead of “chief door officer.” Although euphemistic job titles can make a position sound important, they can also cause confusion and you want to avoid that at all costs.
Stick with clear and direct language that makes your expectations clear. This ensures you only attract candidates who have the chops to do the job.
2. Mention the programs they’ll need to know
Don’t forget to include what they’ll need to do on a day-to-day basis. You don’t need to write a whole dissertation detailing every little thing they’ll have to do each day. But you should make it clear that you need someone to do data entry, for example.
If there’s an important task that requires specialized program knowledge, mention it. Sometimes, job hunters will Google phrases like “top careers that require Microsoft Word skills” or “jobs that require Microsoft Excel experience.” Since they’re using those keywords, make sure you throw those programs in your job descriptions as well.
Speaking of that, here are a few more detailed tips you can try.