Having a strong job description can attract the ideal talent your company is looking for. According to HubSpot, you’ll want to write a job ad that consistently drives candidates to fill out an application. These tips will walk you through an approach to job descriptions that’ll allow you to double your conversion rate of visitors-to-applications in less than a year.
1. Study your target candidate.
You might’ve heard that people buy on emotion first, and then rationalize their purchases using logic.
Applying for a job, in that sense, is a lot like making a purchase. Pressing the “APPLY NOW” button is an emotionally charged decision.
When writing your job ad, tap into those emotions by learning everything you can about your target candidate (i.e., the person you want to be interviewing). What are his or her professional goals and aspirations? What makes him or her happy?
2. Optimize the job title with the keywords that candidate is using.
Every day, the job hunt leads millions of people to search millions of keywords. This makes SEO very important to the recruitment process, especially when writing job ads.
In your quest to be unique and desired, don’t make up a new, creative name for an established role. In other words, don’t call your open content marketing position an “Attention Ninja” or “Audience Crafter.”
3. Start with a company summary.
Open your job ad’s main text copy with a “Company Summary” paragraph. But don’t simply paste your business’s “About Us” boilerplate description into your job listing. Your “Company Summary” should help to put the job for which you’re hiring into context for the applicant.
If your company sells security software, for example, it won’t be enough to simply state your company name, when you were founded, the types of software packages you offer, and where you’re located. Your applicants will want company details that pertain to the team they’d be joining.
4. Summarize the benefits package.
Now that you have the candidate’s attention, draw him or her deeper into the ad with a section dedicated to the other benefits: your company’s benefits package — a topic employees care about. But just know, there’s a right and wrong way to write a benefits bullet …
Use examples to help candidates envision the benefit, not just read it on the job ad. Like this:
- The wrong way: “Heated parking garage.”
- The right way: “Arrive and leave work comfortably, thanks to a heated garage.”
5. Keep the job’s requirements clear and realistic.
This section will be your ad’s most sterile, so don’t close with it. Stick it in the middle, sandwiched between two sections that highlight promise and opportunity.
Keep your list of requirements only as long as it needs to be. You don’t want to scare great candidates away with trivial prerequisites. You also don’t want to engage and inspire unqualified people with a shortlist.
6. Use strong verbs to describe the job’s responsibilities.
Responsibilities are the job. They’re the work, and the paycheck. But responsibilities can also generate excitement and promise in a passionate candidate.
Begin each bullet point of your job responsibilities with a unique yet fitting verb. For example, the role doesn’t “manage” people; it “shapes” them. The role doesn’t “oversee” projects; it “enables” their success. See the difference? One word can offer a fresh perspective, altering the reader’s frame of mind.
Nonetheless, it’s important to first use your knowledge of the role for which you’re hiring to create an accurate ad — one that reflects your company’s culture and specific needs.
Original article here.
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