Magnetic Employers

Online recruiting has opened up a new world of opportunity for employers on the hunt for new employees. Gone are the days of pay-per-line classifieds. Online job postings are often unlimited-and the best recruiters know how to make the most of that opportunity. Staff development is a changed landscape; candidates are looking for very different things from an online classified, and employers' online ads can be especially attractive when they keep the following guidelines in mind.

Know the competition
One of the best pieces of advice for employers posting jobs on the Internet is to research how the competition is using the Internet for their own recruitment program. Go to the job boards you are planning to use and run a job search, using the criteria that fit your own posting. Read through the postings that come up, keeping in mind that these will be some of the positions that job seekers will find beside your own. Not only does this simple research provide insight into who will be competing for your candidates, it is also a great place to find examples of wordings and descriptions used in job postings similar to your own.

Use every keyword in the book
When writing your posting, remember that the Internet-as mentioned above-has eliminated the burden of paying per word or line. Don't go overboard with an excess of text, but be sure to include every keyword you can think of that relates to the position, industry and profession. Packing your text with important words ensures that your job posting will be seen by a greater number of candidates.

Remember money matters
A number of career sites report that when a salary is included with the initial job description, job seekers are more likely to view the posting. Include a salary range with your other information, even if it's a wide range. In most cases, it will increase traffic to your posting and attract attention from the most appropriate candidates.

Include a corporate profile
The expected pieces of a job posting-job description, required education, responsibilities, and salary range-should always be complimented by a corporate profile. One of the most attractive parts of a job can be the actual company a candidate would be working for. Include a short paragraph in your posting that discusses the company, touching on the corporate environment and vision. Include the URL for your company's web site as well. Job seekers are interested in who their employer will be just as much as they are interested in what they will be doing, especially in today's mix of flex-time, telecommuting and working parents. A corporate profile can prove to be a very appealing reason to answer a job opening.

Online Opportunities
An online job posting offers employers a valuable new tool for staff development. The job postings that get the best results take advantage of the opportunity that online job boards provide. Competitive concepts, key words, salary ranges and corporate profiles are four ways to add value and effectiveness to your own postings. The Internet has become the hotspot for employers trying to attract the best new candidates, but any old job posting won't get the results you are looking for. Attractive companies know that writing an effective job posting is the key to a magnetic online recruiting program.