Job seekers are more discerning than ever before and they're savvy enough
to recognize troublesome red flags or toxic language in job descriptions.
When they see that you're looking for a rockstar, multi hat wearer who
wants to join our family, they're probably not going to apply unless
they want to have a little laugh.
In fact, a study by clutch showed that more than half a recent
hires applied to five or fewer jobs in their last job search.
In this video, we'll go over the eight rules for writing an effective
job post that will get you the right employee, one that will help
you achieve your specific goals.
And stick around to the end of this video for our final pro tip.
This tip is crucial for attracting the most amount of candidates that
you can find your ideal employee.
I wanted to take a really quick break to tell you a little bit about ZipRecruiter.
Once your absolutely magnetic job description is ready, get your hiring
started for free using ZipRecruiter.
Click the link in the description to get started.
Number one.
Identify and communicate your core values.
Your values are important to your company.
You can find the most skilled candidate in the world, but if they don't match
your core values, you're not a match.
Know your core values inside and out.
Besides the hard skills you need for your employee, things like coding,
design skills or data analysis skills, you'd be better to identify
the values you want to align on.
Here are some examples: trustworthiness, empathetic, people-first, growth
mindset, flexibility, not to be confused with a 24 /7 employee, mental health
and safety, openness, innovation.
Think of two or three core values you'd like to communicate
to your job applicants.
Infuse them into your posts.
Make sure they're reflected in your day-to-day and your mission statement too.
Number two, create and edit your wishlist.
When looking to hire a new employee.
We know that you want to find the perfect employee, but here's a spoiler,
the perfect employee doesn't exist.
When creating your job description, try to focus on your must
haves and non-negotiables.
Many applicants become intimidated by long job posts that lists
off dozens of requirements, responsibilities, and skills.
Create two drafts of your job posts.
One that lists everything you'd like in a dream applicant.
You'll keep this one private.
From there, cross out your nice to haves.
Consider screening for some of those in the job interview, but don't get bogged
down in one applicant checking 30 boxes.
You are guaranteed to miss out on the applicant who is willing to
learn and grow within the role.
Try to whittle down your role and responsibilities to this: five core
tasks slash responsibilities, plus five to 10 other tasks and responsibilities.
Number three: outline a typical day at work.
We wish every job post did this.
Aside from really clarifying what employee will do in a typical day,
it allows the candidate to actually imagine themselves in the role,
at their desk doing the work they're specifically setting out to do.
Create an outline of what a typical day or week could look like.
There are many job titles that don't actually describe the
job as they are too open-ended.
Consider creating a mock schedule of what a day or a week could look like, including
any reoccurring meetings, client-facing projects and reoccurring tasks.
I can't stress enough that this really colors in the grayer
areas of what the job is.
While some job descriptions can be open-ended, this extra insight
helps a candidate to understand exactly what is required.
If you have someone in the role already, consider asking them for
help and constructing a daily outline.
Number four.
Transparency is huge.
Consider compensation plus perks, plus a secret pro tip.
We know that you don't want to list salary inside of your job posts, but
we have an idea for you that we're going to cover at the end of this tip.
First, we're going to talk about everything but salary.
The modern job seeker, unlike their predecessors are not as overly
concerned with bottom line salary.
Job seekers are concerned with values based organizations, flexibility,
diversity, equity and inclusion.
In fact, a study by glass door showed that one in three candidates
would not apply to a company that had no diversity in its workforce.
Consider mentioning benefits, perks, and important factors in your job
description to attract employers, things like flexibility, remote work options,
learning reimbursements, health, and wellness options beyond medical insurance,
alone, mental health benefits and support,
mentorship opportunities, workplace affinity groups.
Pro-tip let your candidates quote unquote, find their salary.
We get it.
You might not want to list your salary in the job description.
It might vary due to experience expertise, et cetera.
Consider instead listing a salary range or linking to a salary
calculation tool like PayScale.
This will empower your candidate to do their own research and
arrive at an interview with a range that matches your geographic
location, industry and company size.
It's also a great way to see if your candidate really
read your job description.
Hey there.
How's the job hunt going?
Did you know that by using ZipRecruiter, you can reach over 10
million candidates with a few clicks.
Get your hiring started for free today with ZipRecruiter.
Number five: avoid cliches and toxic language.
Unless you're looking specifically to hire Jon Bon Jovi, you don't need to use words
like rockstar in your job description.
Oh, and Jon is probably not looking for a job anyway.
Some of the most commonly reviled words to not include in your job description
are: rockstar ninja family member, wear many hats, fast paced environment, 24 7
availability, work hard plus play hard,
must have thick skin.
While these aren't always signs of toxicity, they often are.
Job seekers know to avoid these phrases so cut them out.
Number six, make your job posts inclusive plus accessible.
Make sure that your job posts is inclusive and accessible.
Unless you're filling a position that requires physically demanding work,
avoid phrases that immediately exclude differently abled candidates.
A resource from the university of Massachusetts details how
to replace ablest language with inclusive alternatives.
Here are examples of words that tend to be exclusionary and
substitutes for these words.
Stand or sit.
Stationary position.
Must be able to remain in a stationary position
50% of the time.
Walk, move, traverse.
The person in this position needs to occasionally move about inside
the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, et cetera.
Use hands slash fingers to handle or feel.
Operate, activate, use, prepare, inspect, place, detect, position.
Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as
a calculator copy machine and computer.
Climb stairs slash ladders or balance.
Ascend, descend, work atop, traverse.
Occasionally ascends or descends a ladder to service the lights and ceiling fans.
Stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
Position self to, move.
Constantly positions self to maintain files in the cabinet.
Talk slash hear.
Communicate, detect, converse with, discern, convey, express
oneself, exchange information.
The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand.
Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
See, detect, determine, perceive, identify, recognize, judge,
observe, inspect estimate, access.
The ability to observe details at a close range within a few feet of the observer.
Carry weight, lift, move, transport, position, put, install, remove.
Frequently moves boxes weighing up to 20 pounds across the
office for various needs.
Exposure to work.
Exposed, work around.
Constantly works in outdoor weather conditions.
Language matters.
Make sure your job description is not intentionally or unintentionally
excluding candidates from the start.
Number seven: posts your job to the right places.
According to a study by Zety, 50% of job applicants come from job boards.
While word of mouth and social sharing are great options to spread the word,
you'll want your job opening to be discoverable on major job boards like
ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor.
Additionally consider finding niche job boards in your industry to share your job.
These will reach a smaller pool of candidates, but they are
more likely to have experience within your specific industry.
But don't stop there.
Make sure that you network your job posts.
Here's what we mean by that.
Whether you are looking for a job or trying to find the right talent for an
opening, networking is a sure-fire way to get you or your job posts in front of more
people who can help you reach your goal.
No matter your role or a stage of your career networking can be an unfair
advantage you should use to your benefit.
ZipRecruiter CEO, Ian Siegel is a huge fan of networking, calling networking an
awesomely ridiculously unfair advantage.
Use it.
In addition to that, make sure to use all of your resources because you just never
know where the right candidate is hiding.
Siegel advises now is not the time to be shy.
Go to your preferred social networks and connect to everyone you can.
Don't limit yourself to close friends or past coworkers.
For more information on networking, check out this article.
Number eight, add your personal touch.
Did you know that writing a job description can be fun?
I promise it can be, just bare with me.
Copy and pasting a job description is a good way to get started, but
make sure it's only the beginning.
By infusing your own tone, painting a colored picture of what a day could
look like and putting your values at the forefront of your job posting,
you will attract the attention of your most ideal candidates.
Create your personal touch to make writing the job description, less boring.
Consider asking your candidates to put something interesting
in their cover letters.
This will also make reading your incoming job applications, mm, dare I say it fun.
All right.
Those are our tips.
But wait, I promised you one last pro tip at the end of this video.
So here it is.
Pro tip, put it all together in the job description title.
Yes.
Our last tip is to put it all together into the title of your job post.
And if this seems backwards, it's because it is.
Any good marketer or journalists will tell you that your title or your headline
is a huge part of garnering attention.
Best practices also suggest that your title be 50 to 60 characters.
So how do you communicate all that you are in a fraction of a tweet?
Make your job post title count.
Here's how.
Make sure the title is specific and accurate.
Sneak a core value in if you have space.
Instead of digital marketer needed, which is 23 characters, you could
try, seeking digital marketer with passion for education.
That's 51 characters.
Instead of administrative assistant opportunity, which is 36 characters,
you could try administrative assistant for exciting healthcare
startup, which is 56 characters.
All right.
Well, those are our eight tips, plus one bonus tip for
writing and posting a job post.
These will help you attract the right candidate.
And I just want to leave you with this one thought, try to have a little fun with it.
Yes.
Even if you're posting a boring job in finance.
Consider jazzing up your job description so you can attract the rights
sparkling employee to your company.
Happy hiring.
Well, you've got this.
So get out there and find your next candidate.
Get your hiring started for free using ZipRecruiter.
Click the link in the description to get started.
Go on, get out there.