Tips on writing a great job posting

Did you always ask how you can create a perfect job posting?

Well, you are not alone. In fact a well written job posting could make a huge difference between attracting an average candidate or the perfect one.

When writing a job description for your job posting you need to avoid using the same standardized approach and you need to customize your offer according to the position needs. This can sound difficult and time consuming for hiring managers.

However, remember a great job posting is always the first introduction you give to your company for potential candidates. It is the start of the hiring process.

This is why you must sell your opportunities in an engaging and unique way in order to make them stand out from your competitors’ job offers daily posted on job boards.

Considering that, we will represent the best tips to write a great job posting for your opportunities.

What is a job posting?

Job posting is a way through which employers inform job seekers they are hiring by publishing and advertising their open positions. Every job posting must be tailored to help the organization attract the best candidates for the position. The job posting must include details like responsibilities, job role, company details …

Back in the past this information used to be published on newspapers, nowadays job posting figure on staffing agencies website, job boards or companies career section.

Tips to create a good job posting

While you write the job description, every section must be crafted with a certain goal. This will help you create a valuable job posting that will attract the perfect candidates.

So here are some few tips that can help you create a good job posting.

Start with a good job analysis

Start by reviewing your internal structure and compare it to the current market needs.

Check and analyze your main competitor’s job descriptions, job titles, and structure to better understand what’s you’re up against.

Depending on your industry you can find your competitor’s insight and offers on job search website like: Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster or LinkedIn.

Then ask yourlsef some good questions like : does your offer match the market needs? Did you need some adjustments in order to attract the best candidate? Are your opportunities clear, cons ice and understandable ?

While analyzing your competitor’s job descriptions don’t hesitate to use some of their best practices and incorporate them in your own job posting.

Keep the job posting short and concise

Studies lead by Textio (the world’s most powerful augmented writing platform) indicates that the optimal length of a good job posting is around 300- 700 word.

Experienced recruiters confirm that longer job postings tend to attract few candidates.Job seekers do not read long job descriptions they just scan them.For instance, you need to write your job offers in such a way that you keep them clear, short, and incisive.

Write a clear and specific job title

When choosing your job title make it clear and simple don’t over inflate it to make it seem more important than what it is.

Don’t use cliché sentences like “our next genius engineer” or “superstar marketer” in the same time don’t count on general titles like “designer” or “copywriter”.

Many hiring managers confirm that candidates always apply based on the job title and that they rarely read the job description.

In fact wrong job titles can cost you time and energy! When you use the right job title you can decrease the number of unqualified applicants that can misunderstand the job title.

Describe properly the job offer

When creating the job description, try to craft it in a way that helps the right candidates to see a typical day of work.

For example, if your job opening is destined for an oil & gas senior mechanical engineer, it would be a bad idea to say something generic like we are looking for an engineer to manage our oil & gas projects. Try to be specific when you describe the job missions and tasks to let the candidate know what he will be really doing. Besides that, a well-written job description reflects the professionalism and expertise of the company so don’t rush this task and do it properly to honor your company name.

Know how to sell your opportunities

When they explore new career paths, job seekers need attractive reasons to choose your job opening over your competitor’s ones. So describe the benefits, advantages and facilities of your job that may attract candidates to apply for it.  

For instance if your company pay 100% of the medical fees, offer lunches, or purchase high-end computers, list these details in the job posting.

Your office is located in a beautiful place with an amazing view, say it in your description.

Some benefits are more valuable to some candidates than others and vice versa.

For instance if your company pay 100% of the medical fees, offer lunches, or purchase high-end computers , list these details in the job posting.

Your office is located in a beautiful place with an amazing view, say it in your description.

Some benefits are more valuable to some candidates than others and vice versa.

Know how to sell the company culture and value

Your job posting is the first portal through which you represent your company to your future employees.

So consider all the aspects you need to review about your organization, like your website, your social media accounts, your testimonials, or the pages you have in Glassdoor or Monster.

If you don’t own a website think of creating a landing page to describe your business. On this page, don’t forget to determine your company goals and global vision. When you show your office, add your team pics, your funny events, and outdoor parties.

Never forget one single picture can replace a thousand words.

Create a good structure with your job posting

While conducting their job search job seekers may encounter a lot of job postings. So keep your job description at 4 to 6 paragraphs in length or less.

The longer the job description is the fewer job applicants it will receive.

Here is how to structure your job posting.

Introduction: 2 or 3 lines describing the company, a summary of the position and benefits that make it appealing.

Paycheck, perks and advantages: as many pieces of research have shown, putting job benefits near the top of the job description is essential. You want to make the job seeker read the entire job description to get them interested right away.

Job responsibilities and tasks:

Use bullet points to precise each task the potential candidate must accomplish. Each sentence must be clear, short and concise, candidates must understand what you want them to do.  

5 to 10 bullets are quite enough, you are not trying to write a full story.

Job qualifications/ requirements:

In this part, you enlist the must-have requirement at the top of your paragraph, the preferred ones in the middle and the optional ones at the bottom.

Again keep it short and clear you will just define the qualities, skills and traits the future candidate must have to perform his job.

Closing: 2-3 lines max. Toward the end you can describe the job interview process, your hiring timeline and the instructions candidates must follow to apply for the role.

Define the application process

Indicate to job seekers the way the application process works from the start till the end. What are the steps he will encounter starting by sending his CV and cover letter? What are the job application steps? The employment tests? And what should he expect from the interview and hiring process?

 The shorter the interview process is, the more candidates you will get. No candidate wishes to pass by five interviews or more before receiving the job offer.

Make your colleagues review the job posting

Ask people in your department to review the job description and to give you a real feedback about it. They may see mistakes,limits  or have good suggestions that can help the company to better sell its opportunities. 

Involving other team mates in the job posting process will make them more involved , motivated and eager to help you improve the company image by improving its job posting.

If you are a jobseeker who is willing to find his  dream job, discover our 10 Tips to run your job search effectively and find the right position.

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