Writing Effective Job Postings for Technical Staffing and Recruiting

If your job postings are not attracting the right candidates, it may be time for a different approach.  An effective job posting is meant to attract qualified candidates; it is not intended to describe every detail of the job or every benefit included in the compensation package.

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I suggest having (2) versions of your job description – one for outward job postings and another longer version that covers all the details.  Pique the prospect’s curiosity with the shortened version and provide the longer version if there is interest in the position.

Avoid making your job description a wish list of every skill a candidate might possibly need.  Decide on 4-5 qualifications a candidate must have and describe them accurately, but don’t be too wordy.

The last thing a top-flight candidate wants to read is a verbose job description that details every little nuance of a job like: “Must be able to lift 50 pounds”.

Software engineers are in high demand in almost every large city.  You can imagine that they review many job postings in their search. Make your posting easy to read and to the point.

Many times you’re hiring for someone that will fit in with your company culture and you won’t know this until you meet them at a face-to-face interview.  So your goal is to attract interest with a shorter job description and then schedule onsite interviews to review job details.

Other tips for writing effective job postings:

• Structure the ad so it is easy to read using bullet points
• Use a simple headline that includes a descriptive job title
• Ask the person who will supervise the candidate to help you define the role — make sure to clearly identify the “Must Haves” for the position
• Include a “Please Read” at the beginning to state things like: “Local Candidates Only, US Citizens Only, etc”
• Show you speak the language, but avoid using internal terminology
• Keep the job posting simple with short sentences
• Include a map of your location and photos of your office building interior and exterior
• Describe your company accurately and avoid making it sound too good to be true

If qualified candidates are not responding to your job ads, follow the guidelines above to help rewrite your ad.  Run some A/B testing and continue tweaking until you have a steady stream of qualified candidates.

For those really hard-to-fill positions, don’t be afraid to run your ad throughout the year, even when you’re not ready to hire.  At the very least, the process of advertising your open positions and conducting onsite interviews is a way to advertise your company.