How to Write a Job Posting to Find the Best Candidates

Finding great employees is the biggest challenge we hear from small business leaders. Updating your job postings can be a great way to make sure you are attracting the very best people to apply for your open positions. Using your job description as a guide, you can develop a job posting that highlights the most important aspects of the job such as responsibilities, experience, and qualifications, but also captures your ideal job candidate’s attention. Here are some tips, including a few from a recent article in Fast Company:

• Include a hook– Start your job posting with language that will help the reader to be interested in company and the position. This can be a good place to play up a bit of your company culture.
• Keep the posting short– Applicants will lose interest in the position if it’s too long. Include a link to the complete job description so interested candidates can find additional details. Keeping postings short also helps them be more mobile-friendly.
• Focus on success– In additional the basic job qualifications, include some metrics of success. For example, the ideal candidate will enjoy a fast-paced work environment and have great attention to detail.

When to post?
Research by Indeed shows that the best days to post your job advertisement is Monday through Wednesday. The peak hour for the entire week is 11:00 am-12:00 pm on Tuesday.

Where to post?
Where to post your job depends a little on the type of candidate you are trying to attract. Here are a few ideas:

• Online job boards such as Indeed, Monster, and CareerBuilder can be a way to reach a large variety of job candidates. Many job seekers across the United States and the world search here for jobs. You can elect to have candidates answer some basic questions when applying, which helps you narrow applicants to only those most qualified. Most online job boards do have some cost associated with them, so it is important to weigh the cost and benefit.
• Social media is a newer way to reach job candidates. You can use LinkedIn as a tool to seek out and target qualified candidates by reviewing profiles through the search function. There are both free and paid recruiting tools available through LinkedIn. You can also just post the job to your company page and your personal page (and ask your management team to do the same) to let your network know you’re hiring. Facebook also has job posting functionality with free and paid options. You can also search for local jobs groups on Facebook, which is typically full of people actively searching for jobs in your area.
• Your local Department of Labor likely has a free job board that employers can use. They may have additional resources for employers as well, so it can be worthwhile to reach out.
• Local universities are a great place to find job seekers who may be fresh out of college or students looking for work. This can be particularly helpful for positions you may have that require a college degree but may not require extensive experience. Employers may go to the university’s web page and search for the job posting section.
• Trade associations and networking groups often provide job posting services on their websites or in their meetings. Check and see if any of the associations or groups you are a part of offer this to members. You may also seek out organizations you are not a part of that may still allow you to post or announce specialized positions that might appeal to their members.

Once you have an idea of the language you would like to use in your job posting, Helpside can assist you with posting job ads. The fee for this service depends on where you would like the job posted.  For assistance with this, please contact our HR Department at humanresources@helpside.com. If you are still unsure about the language you want to use, download our job posting checklist below for more help.