Ensuring you attract and hire the best talent is a difficult task that all employers experience. A job description is the first impression that candidates get of your company. According to research, 65% of employers have to review and alter their job adverts after it has been published. This is usually because they realise they aren’t attracting the right talent pool and so, notice that their job descriptions aren’t appropriate or entirely correct after the first posting. Whether you’re receiving too many unqualified candidates or a small number of applications, there are several ways that you can update your job advertisement. From writing with inclusive language to highlighting the skills that can be learned on the job, CT Skills has put together a list of tips for you to enhance your job listing to ensure that you are only posting compelling, clear and relevant descriptions.
Use Relevant Keywords in the Job Title
It is important to consider how individuals might search for your job role and treat the title like keywords. Job seekers like employers that are literal, specific, and consistent. When considering a title, you do not want to confuse the job seeker. Stick to clear, common descriptive words like “senior” to describe a higher-level position is vital when deciphering the name of your job role. You should ensure to keep your job title and description the same on all platforms that you choose to post your job advertisement. Using the correct keywords and popular titles consistently on all job postings will guarantee that you don’t miss out on any potential high-quality candidates.
Focus on Skills and Not Experience
When it comes to writing a job description, expressing requirements for years of experience and studies could be a large barrier for otherwise qualified candidates. To ensure that you are also resonating with early talent, you should reconsider what might be required by individuals to be successful in your entry-level job roles. Most university graduates have 3 years of experience, so to start with, you should never request more experience than that in your advertisement. Skills-based hiring is another route to take when hiring employees and is a technique that can also be applied to writing job descriptions. Focusing on coursework, skills, and certifications rather than relevant work experience can open up the vastness of the talent pool and include individuals starting their careers. An applicant that has less experience could be more eager and ambitious than those with a higher amount of professional experience, so highlighting the potential skills that a person can learn on the job will excite them further and encourage them to apply for the job. Using bullet points within the job description will also ensure that applicants can quickly identify which soft skills a company is searching for.
Write with Inclusive Language and have an Attention-Grabbing Job Summary
It is a well-known fact that the current generation is the most diverse yet. So, it shouldn’t shock anyone that the younger generation search for diversity within job descriptions. It has been shown that more than 60 per cent of individuals research company leadership diversity whilst looking for their future job. You should ensure that you do not insert any biased language within your job advertisement. You should also highlight your company’s mission, values, and culture, as well as write with inclusive language. Making alterations to your description and replacing aggressive words such as ‘talking’ with softer vocabulary such as ‘communicating’ to make the job more applicable for those with disabilities. Non-gendered vocabulary is also useful to include to ensure that you attract a wider and more diverse talent pool.
Loosen Role Requirements
Asking for high educational achievements, having rigid application windows, and requesting additional documents from your candidates can lessen your talent pool and deter promising applicants away from your job advertisement. One way to entice candidates is to be upfront and honest about your application process. Doing so will build more transparent relationships with your employees and make them feel like they connect with you on a more personal level as well as feel more supported by your organisation.
On average, more men feel inclined to contact a company about potential employment opportunities even if they don’t meet the role requirements. With certain subjects being more unevenly gendered than others, dropping a certain educational achievement can open up the talent pool drastically. The majority of individuals applying to jobs do not adequately understand the vast number of opportunities that topics can open their career path up to, but recruiters can help them understand and be part of the learning curve.
Get Candidate and Employee Feedback
To improve the quality of your job postings, a recommendation from employers is requesting feedback from your candidates and recently hired employees. This is because it can help a job come across as more authentic to its audience, heightening the chances of getting the right individuals to apply. Those already employed by your company will know what is true in your role description, and what is not. From this, they can effectively inform you of what to dial up and dial down within the advertisement, as well as what is possibly missing altogether.
Include Employee Salary and Benefits
The salary that an individual earns is the number one motivator for them to stay at a job. Now more than ever, employees are well aware of their worth within a business. In addition to candidates wanting clear transparency with what they can earn, applicants are searching for competitive differences between companies when looking for who to work for. Such benefits can include flexible working hours, mental health benefits, as well as unique opportunities for learning and professional progression. Those searching for work are also interested in knowing the dress code, paid annual leave, and sickness pay. So, it makes sense to add all the details mentioned within the job description. Career professionals want to explore where to live, how to pay off student loans, and the type of culture they will work for, so all points mentioned in this paragraph are important details to include.
Writing engaging and attractive job descriptions takes time, so be patient. The effort will pay off as you will receive a lot higher quality applications. Ensuring you have an appealing advertisement creates excitement from candidates and allows them to see a future with the employer. If you would like to hire apprentices through our recruitment services, enquire with us today at apprenticeships@ctskills.co.uk or visit our employers’ page for more information.