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You've purchased an online job posting - now what? To write a job ad or
posting that is the most effective with the least amount of effort,
you'll want to write down a list of the key components and apply some
basic marketing principles.
A well-written job posting will do several things for you: recruit for
your company, increase your response rate and quality of applicants and
maximize your return on investment. The first thing to think about is
your audience and, second, how to get them to do what you want - apply
to your job.
The purpose of a job posting is not to tell the world how great your
company is or to demand a set of specific qualifications; it's to sell!
You are selling your open position in a saturated and competitive
market. Your job posting is an advertisement. Yes, an advertisement! You
must sell the position by using your sales and marketing tools. In this
case, you'll need to use two marketing principles: stressing the
benefits and creating a call to action to the customer (in this case,
the job seeker).
Stressing the Benefits - Job postings tend to focus on the
employer and what you need, not what the job seeker will gain. This
doesn't work in a tight labor market. You need to make your job-posting
stand out from the crowd by making an impression on the job seeker.
- Job seekers, like employers, are interested in what is in it for
them now and in the future, so tell them. Spell it out. Include
information telling the job seeker of the benefits for the both of
you - the challenges, opportunities to grow, advancement and
non-monetary aspects.
- Stand out from the crowd. Think benefits! Move past the feature
to the benefit. For example, instead of saying "uniforms provided"
give the benefits - five full uniforms are provided with a rotating
schedule with an in-house laundry facility and opportunity to
replace a uniform twice a year. Tell them exactly what they get and
at the same time tell them what they don't expect to get - company
perks. Does your company provide specialized training? The week
after Christmas off? A tropical trip as an incentive at the end of
the year? These are great details that will make your job posting
stick in any job seeker's mind.
- Now, take all of those benefits and features and wrap into a
nice, neat package of a job posting. Include a picture of the
lifestyle they will live in your community. Besides being
descriptive and specific, you will need to make it attractive by
illustrating the possibilities and advantages for taking the
position and joining the company.
Call to Action - This is the part where you want to motivate
them, create interest in your position so they want to learn more and
act today.
- Part of motivating the job seeker is creating a sense of
urgency. Tell them that this opportunity will not last long, so
apply today. Or take it a step further by explaining you're growing
fast, a new location is about to open or a new project will be
beginning soon.
- Choices. Everyone likes choices so give job seekers several
different ways to submit their resume. Just like your ads in the
paper offering your services, include a phone number, email address
and fax number. Make it convenient for the job seeker.
- Don't make this a painful experience for job seekers - you need
them now! Once they have submitted their resume to your position,
act immediately. Don't sit on them for a week or longer. You are
asking them to apply to your position. Be respectful and responsive!
Writing job postings with these things create a clearer picture to the
job seeker. They can see how the position will affect their life and
create new and exciting opportunities. By creating this picture, you've
motivated the job seeker to act!
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