Cutting the Useless Words When Recruiting

A few decades ago, human resources recruiter jobs were rare. Jobs tended to be long-term affairs, and company hopping was the exception. With the rise of a more flexible labor market, however, more candidates were in the hiring pool, and the job of finding the right candidates was too time consuming for a tired HR manager. The professional corporate recruiter was born. The Internet changed the game yet again by opening up broad vistas for recruiting, sourcing, and attracting ideal candidates. Unfortunately, the freedom to post anywhere you wish has come at a price—job announcements that are so verbose as to drive away or discourage desirable job seekers.

Avoiding this pitfall is entirely up to you as a human resources recruiter. Drafting wordy ads was severely penalized in the old days, with newspapers charging by the line for classifieds, but now the temptation exists to take advantage of the potentially unlimited space afforded by most job boards.

Usually, a human resources recruiter starts out with the best of intentions; by describing the position in detail, you help to reduce the uncertainty that a candidate may feel about the job. Describing the position's requirements in depth also helps screen out applications from obviously unqualified seekers as well. Unfortunately, it's possible to go too far with this strategy. As the length of a posting increases, the applicant's eyes may glaze over at the solid wall of text and the likelihood that every line will be understood declines.

Another danger of lengthy postings is that the human resources recruiter will lapse into empty corporate jargon. This ranges from buzzwords such as "dynamic" and "synergy" to whole phrases and concepts that create a false impression among your target audience.

Fortunately, there are ways around this problem. One solution is to place an emphasis on social media recruiting, specifically on size-restricted platforms such as Twitter. A restriction of 140 characters can have a salutary effect on a corporate recruiter, who will be forced to more or less come straight to the point, even if it is just a referral to the company's website for more information. The discipline required to post effectively on Twitter can help you focus and refine your job description until even your listings on Craigslist and Monster have an admirable brevity and concision.

Another trick that a human resources recruiter can use is the simple rewrite. Write your post early—ideally a day or two before it's due to be posted—and then come back to it later with fresh eyes. If it is difficult to understand, consider a rewrite.

The human resources recruiter position is a job and a half all on its own, but the job isn't getting done if the language you use in your postings is actively repelling good candidates. On top of everything else, the human resources recruiter also has to learn to write. With brevity, concision, and clarity, you can attract and keep the job seekers your company needs.

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