Fresh Advice: Job Posting Tips

Published on 2008-03-30

Succinct, detailed and informative job posts attract the most qualified applicants with the most relevant work history and education. That may seem like an obvious fact, yet a surprisingly large number of employers fail to realize that just as they judge applicants by the quality of their cover letters and resumes, applicants judge employers by the quality of their job ads. Hastily written job ads with misspelled words can make qualified applicants question a company's professionalism. Vaguely worded ads can waste time by eliciting responses from unqualified people. The easiest and most effective way to find the employee your company needs is with a focused and well-written job ad.

Keeping a sample job posting (or two) on hand is a solution that is adopted by many staffing and human resource professionals to save time and avoid missteps. With that in mind, here's a job posting template that could be used as a basis for your company's job posts.

Start with summaries

The quickest way to make your ad stand out from the thousands of job postings online is to tell the reader who "you" are. Some companies begin their ads with a mission statement, but such statements are usually too broad and abstract to convey to the reader precisely what your company has to offer its employees. Instead, try writing two to four sentences about what your company does and its history, products, location, size, work atmosphere and goals â?? information that will be appealing on a personal level.

Next, write an additional short paragraph that summarizes the advertised position, its general responsibilities and its place within the company. By the end of these two brief introductory paragraphs, the reader should have a good intuitive sense of whether the job would be a good fit for his or her particular skill set and personality.

Details, details

Using bullet points or another brief paragraph, spell out the qualifications an applicant must possess to do the job. These can be divided into two categories â?? essential and preferred â?? to further weed out unlikely candidates. Points that should be addressed include education, work experience, relevant skills, etc. Specificity is essential. For example, "good communication skills" would be less effective phrasing than "ability to knowledgeably explain manufacturing techniques to new clients, with emphasis on composite materials and molding techniques."

Preemptive answers

Look over the job ad so far. What basic fact would a potential employee want to know that you haven't already mentioned? Asking yourself that question now can save you time later, when applicants send email queries looking for information that wasn't included in your ad, such as benefits and salary range.

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