It’s no secret that job recruitment and hiring have been challenges for many businesses.

In the last several months, several HS clients have approached us about strategies to help them hire, and through us, have utilized tactics such as:

• Display ads
• Radio campaigns (traditional and highly targeted digital radio)
• YouTube Campaigns
• Craig’s List posts
• Geofencing
• Boosted Posts and Facebook Ads
• Organic and paid search
• LinkedIn, Indeed, and other hiring sites
• HR and in-person tactics

While there are several strategies any business can take, you need to know how to make your job posting search friendly and optimized for attracting the right candidates. Whether you’re connecting to applicants on every hiring site or just posting flyers to your social feeds, your posting should be built to stand out.

How to make your job posting search friendly and appealing to candidates

You don’t have to choose between writing for search and writing to attract candidates. A good online job posting should do both. Here are some “must haves.”

A clearly written description with keywords – Make sure you use job titles that are recognizable to job seekers. Speak in clear, straightforward language that prospects can scan quickly. People search for “Marketing Strategist,” and not “Public Reach & Acquisition Specialist.”

Define the responsibilities – Try to keep it to a shorter list of bullet points while giving the candidate the most accurate picture of the day-to-day of their role at your company.

Compensation – Be as transparent as possible with your salary and benefits. If there are additional perks, like flexible hours or educational reimbursement, be sure to list those out separately. Telling people what you can offer up front will save you time down the road in interviews and unnecessary application sorting.

How you can grow – In the age of The Great Resignation, today’s job seekers want to know they can grow in their role, lead a new initiative, or be part of an ongoing project. Entice them with past examples or pending new initiatives.

Show your flexibility – Work flexibility, in the jobs that allow it, is very important to today’s job force. Set realistic expectations of office hours and highlight when work-from-home is a viable option.

Show your culture – Know what happy customers, employees, partners or others are saying about you. What separates you from your competition are your unique offerings and perks, like Friday afternoons off, continuing education, paid PTO on employee birthdays, and so on. Feature these in your posting, using real life examples, and not just the usual, “It’s a fun place to work at.”

Remember to be mobile friendly  – Most people are job searching on the go, so don’t use complicated forms or resume uploads that may not load on mobile. Be sure you’re optimized for the phone.

Find the Right People in the Right Place – Not every position is going to lend itself well to Indeed and LinkedIn. For example, to find workers in entry-level service jobs, you should probably be looking to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even a site like Craigslist. Plus, you should know that building out a custom audience for social ads is very important to any paid promotions, and can be trickier for recruitment ads.

Some additional things to consider

Helping companies with recruitment isn’t just about advertising or marketing, it’s about understanding the current employment market. Doing so will help you better recruit. Here’s a few additional things the HS team encourages you to consider:

• It takes most candidates only 14 seconds to decide whether to keep reading your job post.
• Over 50% of candidates are searching on a mobile device.
• About 3/4 of today’s HR professionals cite “Workplace Flexibility” as very important to the future of hiring.
• Approximately 30% of the workforce is actively seeking new opportunities. The remaining 70% is more passive in seeking, but open to something new.
• Candidates accept a position based on payment and compensation (49%), the chance to achieve professional development (33%), and improve their work/life balance (29%).

Are you looking to build a better recruitment strategy, online presence or otherwise? Talk to HS.