Job ads are the gateway to qualified job applicants. As I mentioned in my first job ads post, job ads are probably an applicant’s first real exposure to your company. Make the impression a good one. Of course, it’s not really as simple as snapping one’s fingers and creating killer job ads, but with the couple of tips I shared in my last post, and the few I’ll be sharing here, you should have a very solid starting point to creating optimized job ads. Even if you are feeling a little overwhelmed trying to streamline your hiring process.
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Use strategic keywords in your job ads.
This section is a blog post in and of itself, but I’ll highlight some key points to remember when building a keywords strategy for your job ads. The first step is to analyze the language you use. Most people when writing something (unless they’re professional writers/marketers) tend to write items from their own perspective, and HR is no exception. Writing from your own viewpoint isn’t a bad thing per se, it just limits how well received it may be by others who read it.
Job ads are really advertisements selling your open positions.
Because HR tends to very compliant minded, a lot of the language used in job ads sounds very legal and dry. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing until you realize that job ads are really advertisements selling your open positions. You’re writing an advertisement to sell something to a customer (applicant), so you want to use selective language that will appeal to your applicants. In tech terms, you want to choose targeted keywords or keyword phrases that job candidates will use to search for open positions. Job titles are one of the best examples of this. When you post your job ads and select a coordinating job title, are you using the job title that the job is classified under internally? For example, is the title of your listing Sr. Financial Consultant II when most applicants will search for “accounting jobs” in the search bar of the job board/aggregator?
The idea is to choose words that your job seekers search so that you can access the greatest number of applicants as possible in your job ads. There’s a great free tool for this called SEO Book. It has a keyword tool and allows you to type in keywords or phrases, so that you can see how often that keyword set (and similar variations) are searched. Choose a phrase for your job ads that helps you cast the widest net for applicants.
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Don’t be afraid to get creative with the location of your job ads.
In the body of your job ads, you need to list the location of your opening at least somewhere. The reason for this is that most people searching for a job, use a medium that contains a search bar that prompts them to define what they’re looking for, and also where. Much like what was mentioned about lacing your job ads with keywords, the location of your opening serves as a potential keyword here since it’s something the applicant is typing in when they search for a job opening. Additionally, when searching for jobs on the web, most candidates search “accounting jobs in city, state” because it makes their search more specific.
In the body of your job ads, you need to list the location of your opening at least somewhere.
That being said, if your company is located in a suburb outside of a big city, then you could list that in your ad to access applicants that are searching for jobs in a big city. Metro areas are larger and so a lot of job seekers search for positions in those cities to retrieve more opportunities. So, your job ads would read something like this: “Offices located in Sandy located 10 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, UT.”
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Job ads should contain a day-in-the-life.
How often do you read a job title for an ad that appeals to you only to bow out when you start to read the seemingly endless list of job duties that don’t make an iota of sense to you? After reading through the fourth barely discernable point, you think “I have no idea what they’re talking about, so I must be unqualified for this position.” Well, the truth is, you probably don’t understand any of the language because you don’t work at the company and have no idea what their buzzwords or job responsibilities entail.
Instead, opt for writing a play by play of what the candidate may experience on a daily basis. This is relatively easy to do if you’re replacing someone who served in that position before and you’re replacing them. If you’re trying to fill a new position, you might need to get more creative, but the initial investment will be worth it when one of your job ads prompts a handful of really qualified applicants to apply.
Wish you could just snap your fingers and the perfect job ads for your openings would appear? We can make that happen! Our hiring consultants have written hundreds of optimized job ads. Give us a call so we can help you, too!
