How to Write a Job Listing that Attracts the Right Attention
A job listing that is written ineffectively can cause many problems including too many applicants, too few applicants, or unqualified applicants. To ensure that this does not happen to you, here’s a few tips for how to write a job listing that attracts the right attention.
1. Identify a Target Persona
Target personas are useful in marketing; they help companies tailor their messages. Use this concept if you are struggling with how to write a job listing.
Who is your ideal applicant? Perhaps it is someone who enjoys traveling the world and who prefers to explore places off the beaten track instead of the tourist destinations that attract crowds. Or maybe your ideal applicant is a kind person who goes out of his or her way to help children and the elderly. Keeping this person in mind as you write your listing helps you shape a targeted message.
2. Consider Presentation
For many businesses, job listings have become more than blocks of text sometimes set off by bullet points or numbered lists. Infographics, posters, and videos are just some of the ways that companies have switched up these postings. Would your target persona be attracted to an unusual type of listing?
3. Be Transparent
Transparency improves your chances of getting qualified and compatible applicants. After all, if you do not list salary or any unusual downsides of the job, the people you interview might not be good fits. Plus, transparency builds trust. Include information such as salary, benefits, and job perks (and any job downsides) in your listing.
4. Look at Your Competitors
It’s also worthwhile to study what your competitors are doing. What are the strengths and weaknesses in their job listings? How does a certain competitor always manage to recruit the best talent? Perhaps one of your rivals has a way of infusing an air of playfulness and fun into its listings, or its listings are concise while also very informational. Word choice, tone, and presentation are aspects to look at.
Learning how to write a job listing can be a matter of trial and error, but the four tips above should put you in good shape.