Hiring a new guy is akin to selling a product these days isn’t it? You need to target the right employees, so that you don’t have too many extra CV’s to wade through. Plus, you’re competing with others to attract skilled labor, which, never mind what the economists are saying, is always in short supply. So here are a few ways to make your next job opening more attractive:
Highlight your organization’s strength in the advertisement
The organization is as important as a profile. Each organization has inherent strengths which appeal to a separate group of employees.
Example: Government agencies offer security, banking offers higher compensation, consumer products offer brand, technology companies offer flex hours and work life balance.
Most offer a combination of strengths. So you need to pick one or two that appeal to your target audience. Offering too many might arouse doubts their mind, so don’t oversell.
Challenge, but, don’t underestimate the job requirements
You need experienced, talented people for most openings, barring a few where inexperienced people can manage the task. Simplifying the job in the opening is only inviting trouble since you might hire a guy who likes easy going who may not deliver in a crisis. Challenging the employees in your posting appeals to the type of candidates you want and gets you desired result.
Example: “We are seeking a senior professional with a proven track record in direct sales, franchising, licensing, senior sales management. The successful applicant will be driven, results focused with “can do” attitude”. This shows you’re looking for an aggressive guy and appeals to that guy.
Appearances matter and they require attention
The advertisement or posting whether it’s online or in print, will be the calling card for the employee. It needs to grab his attention and encourage him to respond. Therefore, things like color, pictures, spellings, grammar, syntax, language, bullet points – small but crucial – also matter.
Example: If it’s a long running sentence versus a bullet point highlighting each separate requirement, the latter is more readable. The posting needs to look good if you want a response that merits your time.
Poor posting | Appealing posting |
‘A high level ability to communicate and advise on complex taxation matters to both specialists and non-specialists, proven presentation skills and ability to manage difficult issues is required, together with highly developed written skills enabling the production of technical documents that are clear accurate and concise, including documents which are understandable to non-specialists’ | ·Prepare and review of corporate tax computations and reports
·Advise on tax compliance and reporting issues ·Communicate to other areas of the finance department and wider departments on tax issues and answer queries ·Support the delivery of ad-hoc project work |
Posting in the right places
Eyeballs are the determinant of response. It’s a given that you’re going to post your job opening online. But the web is as tangled as it gets, and getting the correct guys to see your posting isn’t as simple in the information overload era. Pick the reputed places like LinkedIn, Monster.com, Careerbuilder, Craigslist, Indeed, Simplyhired, Snagajob, and then, go into the various industry groups and post the opening.
Example: “Inbound Marketers” is a group for American marketing professionals with 70,000+ followers on LinkedIn. Posting your next marketing opening here might net you the guy you need. “The Recruiter Network” in LinkedIn has 250,000+ members, giving you access to job seekers and allowing you to see what others are offering.
Show them the dollars, sometimes.
This is a business specific call and most organizations choose not to disclose compensation. For extremely senior level positions, these are always discussed across the table so not disclosing is correct but for junior and mid-level positions, it is important to mention a salary range which would ultimately save you time as well from interviewing guys who wouldn’t consider your salary range at all.
Example: “While the compensation for this position is finally dependent upon the candidate’s experience and qualifications, the approximate salary range that has been approved for this position is $—–/year to $—–/year.”
Use an online recruiting app
Most of the candidates today look forward to applying for jobs online as it is free, easy, faster, paperless and direct. There are several online recruiting apps available on the internet today. Some of them allow you to have customized career pages and offer widgets that can be integrated to your company’s career page! This way you can attract best candidates as well as manage your entire hiring process easily.
Hope these help when that next Want ad goes out!