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Insights

Are Your Job Postings Turning Away New Hires?


"Job postings don’t just tell potential applicants about the responsibilities of a role, they also tell your audience about who you are as a company. Every posting is an opportunity to change the fabric of your organization by attracting new talent and viewpoints. Each new hire can alter the shape of your company’s future."
Are Your Job Postings Turning Away New Hires?

by Melissa Ramos


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Do you ever have trouble finding the right candidates?

Your job postings could be turning them away before they even have a chance to apply.

Job postings don’t just tell potential applicants about the responsibilities of a role, they also tell your audience about who you are as a company. Every posting is an opportunity to change the fabric of your organization by attracting new talent and viewpoints. Each new hire can alter the shape of your company’s future.

The most common issues with job postings aren’t always obvious either. Often, they’re hidden beneath the surface. Let’s take a look at the biggest job posting mistakes that could be derailing your hiring process.

They Aren’t Concise

When hunting for jobs, candidates can be searching through hundreds of listings before they come across yours.

  • Be clear and to the point.
  • Format your writing properly.
  • Make it specific to the role.
  • Keep paragraphs to a minimum and try to express job requirements and responsibilities in bullet points whenever possible.

They Aren’t Inclusive

A diverse and inclusive workplace is important for a healthy organization. More inclusive teams bring fresh perspectives to your organization and foster a culture of innovation and openness.

Keep your team diverse by using language that won't deter underrepresented or marginalized groups from applying to your job posting. Words are powerful and how they are interpreted can subconsciously influence whether a candidate thinks that a role or company is right for them.

Not sure how your posting measure up? Try a writing tool like Textio to analyze and improve your postings. Textio cross references your writing with millions of successful job postings to determine how your words are having an impact on your hiring process.

They Aren’t Based on Potential

The perfect person for a role might not be the one your hiring managers had imagined when they laid out a job description. While experience has been a reliable way to tell if someone is qualified for a position in the past, it isn’t always the best way.

Many roles today didn’t even exist ten years ago or, if they did, they looked completely different. As a result, sometimes candidates with a lot of experience may not actually have relevant experience.

You need to create the opportunity for applicants whose experience can’t be counted in years. These are people with potential. Although their track records may not be as long as other candidates, they may show signs of passion and engagement that can let them hit the ground running.

Make it clear that your job listing is a wishlist and not a requirement, and that people should still give a posting a shot even if they feel underqualified. People can surprise you if you just give them a chance.

They Aren’t Discoverable

If you want to attract candidates, you need to make sure that your job postings are actually getting seen.

Make sure that you’ve added your job posting to any relevant job boards. The right job board can have a huge impact on your results, especially if you're leveraging industry-specific boards with niche audiences.

Here’s a list of high quality job boards:

      It’s also important to help get your job postings in front of the right people by using social media to amplify your reach.

      Encourage employees to share listings (which can be easily incentivized with referral programs offered by apps like Lever and Greenhouse), and try sharing postings to industry-specific Facebook Groups. You can even experiment with running paid Facebook and LinkedIn ads to reach more qualified applicants.

      They Aren’t Quick and Easy to Complete

      Every step you add is another opportunity for a potential candidate to give up. Once an applicant has read through your posting and is ready to hit that apply button, they’ve already decided that this is job a good fit—they’ve written (or at least adapted) a cover letter and are excited about the prospect of joining your team. Why deflate that excitement with a long, tedious process?

      Keep it focused

      Avoid asking for unnecessary information, like a home address or any other administrative details that are not pertinent. If you’re looking to learn more about your candidate as a person, have them write a couple lines that describe themselves instead of creating specific questions.

      Pick the right platform

      Avoid clunky platforms that force applicants to take unnecessary steps like creating a user account, or copying and pasting parts of their resume into plain text. They spend a lot of time fine tuning their resume, hoping to stand out, and it can be soul crushing to have it all be for nothing. And let's be honest—it's not exactly easy on the eyes for hiring managers and recruiters either. Using the right platform for talent acquisition can make all the difference.

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