Learn How to Effectively Write a Job Posting

Writing a job posting for the Internet is different than writing a job posting for a newspaper. Since you are charged by the line or column width for newspaper ads, ads are very plain and full of abbreviations therefore job seekers can not get detailed information about your company or the position. Unlike newspaper advertising, an online job posting allows you to showcase your company and provide a full description of the position. Even though some career sites do have length restrictions, there is still sufficient space to outline enough information for the candidate to fully understand the requirements and expectations of the candidate for the available position.

Here are some tips to effectively write an Internet Job Posting:

1. Job Title

The job title is one of the most important components of your job posting. The title is the first thing that job seekers see and determines whether or not they will click through to view your job posting. An effective job title should be targeted to the main responsibility of the job, without being too limited to allow for maximum search results to attract a higher response rate.

2. Company

Regardless of whether or not your company is well-known, you will want to provide insight into your organization to allow the candidate to understand your overall environment and culture. Components to consider are as follows:

• Brief description of the company
• Products and services your company provides
• Desirable aspects of your corporate culture
• Type of training and career path job seekers can expect
• Work environment
• Benefits

This information should be both informative and appealing for job seekers.

3. Job Description

The Job Description is a very crucial component because job seekers want to know exactly what they will do doing on the job. Make sure to include the following information:

• Detailed overview of the responsibilities for the position
• Interesting challenges of the job and desirable aspects of the job
• Whether or not they will be apart of a team, managing a team, or working independently
• Role the position and department has within the company
• How their success will be measured
• Potential for growth within the company
• Time commitments, salary and travel expectations

The goal is to be as descriptive as possible so that job seekers can visualize what they will be doing on a day to day basis.

4. Required Skills and/or Qualifications

Outline the skills that are necessary for the position. Make sure to distinguish between the required skills and the “nice to have skills” for the job. Some items that should be addressed are if there is a requirement for the minimum number of years of experience, education level, and any certificates needed. You should also list any soft skills that are needed for the position. Soft skills can include communication skills, willingness to travel, ability to work in a team environment, organizational skills, etc. To try and minimize that number of applicants you receive, you can consider stating whether or not you are accepting resumes for candidates that are outside the U.S.

5. Keywords

Always include keywords that are found in your job posting otherwise job seekers will not be able to locate your job posting. It will be helpful to list common words that job seeks might use when searching for jobs. Not only do keywords determine which candidate searches your job posting will appear in, but they are also the basis of search alerts and agents, which help you reach both active and passive candidates. Be sure to use words that ideal candidates for your position would use to search for it. Include alternate job titles, responsibilities and skills needed for the position.

6. Proofread Your Posting

After you are finished writing your job posting, review it and make sure that your spelling and punctuation are correct. If there are any grammar mistakes, this will not make a good impression on the job seeker. In addition, do not use ALL CAPS when writing your posting. You want yourself and your company to be viewed as very professional.

Once your job posting has been proofed, it is ready to be posted on the Internet. Just remember the more detailed and specific your job posting is, the better fit candidates are more likely to respond. This will save you time and money during your recruiting process.