Every company wants to find the best employees. Putting the right team together is crucial for running a successful business. No matter what industry you’re in, over time, your office becomes a well-oiled machine. As the boss, you’re lucky if you get to a point where you can’t imagine having a better group of people working for you. In the meantime, you have to make your best efforts to find the best employees available to you.
But times change. No matter how happy your employees are in their positions, there are a number of reasons you’ll need to find the occasional replacement. Your employees may move, start a family, or decide they want to branch out on their own in some way, and you’re left at the beginning of the hiring process. You could also be looking to expand your business, which necessitates bringing on an extra person or two.
And the hiring process can be tiring. You may find yourself sifting through unqualified resumes for what seems like weeks on end. But don’t fret; we’re here to help make the process easier on you. Here are our best tips for tweaking your job posts to find the best new employees.
1. Don’t Just Focus on the Job Duties
These days, people are looking for more than just a job when it comes to work. They want to spend their days in an environment where they can be themselves, surrounded by individuals who share their same values. It’s also incredibly important for new hires’ personalities to mesh with the ones on your existing team.
So when writing your job post, know that you’re hiring for experience, but also for personality. Don’t just focus on what the position entails. Highlight your company’s core values and your company culture. Your candidates will have to sell you on why they’re the best fit for your open position, but you’ll first have to sell them on your business. If they’re enthusiastic about your company mission and culture, you’ll know you want to hear more from them.
2. Post on Mobile-Friendly Sites to Find the Best Employees
Are you aware that mobile traffic has now surpassed desktop traffic. Many people browsing for new jobs are doing so on their smartphones or tablets rather than a desktop. By posting to a site that is mobile-friendly, you’re opening up your post to even more potential applicants. And not doing so limits your reach. Be sure to make your introduction short and sweet; millennial job browsers want to quickly get to the meat. Too much scrolling, and they’ll lose interest.
3. Appropriately Tweak the Job Title
Don’t feel like the title your company assigns to the position in question has to be the one you use on job boards. Instead, choose a title that highlights what the position is – and nothing more. Don’t unintentionally mislead your candidates into thinking they’re applying for a position that’s completely different than the one you’re hiring for.
This means that you shouldn’t exaggerate the title, either. Try not to use superlative language like “the best job you’ll ever have.” Not only does this paint an unrealistic picture in candidates’ minds, it may attract the kind of unmotivated job searchers you wouldn’t want working for you.
4. Find the Best Employees by Incorporating Visuals
As we stated earlier, millennials tend to skim. One useful thing you can do to make sure your job post gets noticed is to make it visual. Consider making (or hiring someone to make) an infographic-type job post, with a coherent color scheme and dynamic graphics. If a job board doesn’t let you include graphics on your post, consider linking back to your own company website’s hiring page, and post the graphics there.
Of course, you don’t want to overwhelm job browsers – simple and straightforward is best. Don’t use too many bold or clashing colors, and don’t include incoherent symbols or language. You may think it’s a good idea to use lots of excessive punctuation or many capital letters, as it conveys your enthusiasm for hiring. Enthusiasm is great, but you don’t want your post to come off as unprofessional. Instead, stick with a few well-placed exclamation points and appropriate graphics.
5. Include Your “Must-Haves”
In order to weed out unqualified candidates, be sure to include the must-haves for this position. However, don’t have so many must-haves that almost no one out there is qualified to apply. Think about which qualities or experiences are absolutely crucial to this role, and list only those as must-haves. If there are still a few qualities you think the right candidate should have in an ideal world, list those as preferences. But don’t get so hung up on the details that you miss out on an amazing candidate!
6. Be Specific
If you don’t ask for a cover letter, you might not get one – from any candidate. Be specific in what you’re looking for from applicants. A cover letter is a crucial piece of information from applicants; not only will you be able to gauge their relevant experience and personality, you’ll be able to see if they actually even read your job post.
Writing an effective job post can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. And once you create the best one you can, you can use it as a template for future posts. Simple!
