There is nothing worse than posting your job and getting no response. You’re trying to pay people money to do a job they are trained and qualified to do, why would you get no responses?

Well, there is quite a lot of nuance that goes into writing and presenting a job posting, and we’re here to go over ten of those steps to make sure your job posting is set up for success.

Write to your audience. A job posting, just like an interview, is both parties attempting to sell themselves to the other one. Why would they stop on your posting and apply to yours when there are countless others? Focus on what a candidate in your industry would want to get out of a position specifically.

There is plenty of time on the phone to fill the candidate in more about some of your company culture and other benefits that are not vital to someone’s decision making. 

When it comes to having a job posting, it must be treated similarly to news articles. If it’s too long, you’re not going to read it. You’ll take a look at the bullet points, if there are any, and move on to the next position.

Focus on holding their attention with key information upfront so that they are aware of what they need to know.

This summary doesn’t need to be your next college essay, but it should be clear and to the point. No one wants to read a narrative when it pertains to their position, and bullet points are recommended. 

Cover the need to knows such as daily responsibilities, who this position directly reports to, and necessary experience.

We want to balance being clear and concise with marketing. That concept seems weird but stick with us here. A job description is a long list of responsibilities and benchmarks to which you will be held for your performance, while a job posting is working to make the position appear covetable to a potential candidate.

Yet if we go all one way, we end up with a tremendously dry posting that is not enticing at all, and if we go all the other way, it appears very enticing, but the candidate doesn’t know any of the true responsibilities of the position.

We want to create a balanced posting between these two extremes to create an enticing and informative posting.

Some companies will try to make the job titles more fun and exciting by calling them titles such as “hygienist guru.” This may be off-putting to a large number of candidates, and it takes away from the importance and authority of the role.

Reserve these titles for internal use if you are dead set on using more fun-based titles. You will also be sacrificing those that may be searching for a position by its commonly referred to name for the position, such as “dental hygienist.”

Using this off-name will make it much more difficult for a possible candidate to find your posting.

While there are many cases where technical ability and certifications will be required to perform the responsibilities of the position, there may be other attributes you would like the best candidate to have.

These attributes could be: works well under pressure, well-organized, a people person, etc. These kinds of factors let the candidate know from the beginning what kinds of attributes are wanted from them and whether or not they will be a good fit.

The last thing any candidate wants to do is apply for a position they need urgently only to realize the interview process at your company or practice is composed of five different stages. After the first interview, it is important to respect the candidate’s time and explain to them the hiring process if you decide to proceed with them, and to ensure that the process and timeline also work for them.

The same consideration needs to be taken for an urgent hire. You do not want to put the candidate in the awkward position of being unable to provide their two weeks notice because you need someone to start during the same week.

Have your starting date range included in your job posting so that candidates will be aware.

It is important to fully view what someone in that position is responsible for and what it entails, even if it typically was not mentioned on paper before. An updated job description is important because if an employee comes in and assumes responsibilities for tasks that were not listed in the job description, it may lead to negative feelings against the practice or company.

One of the best people to speak to about an accurate depiction of the position is someone who is already holding a very similar position or the exact same position. Ask them to go through what they believe are their roles and responsibilities, and takes notes of their responses. These should then be remedied if it should not be their responsibility or reflected upon the job description.

An employer being upfront about salary will be appreciated by candidates. Nothing is worse for a candidate than going through the entire process, only for the job offer to come through, and it is not in their range of pay. Hammering out these details at the very beginning of the process by including these in the posting itself will make sure both the employer and the candidate are on the same page.

Why should this candidate consider your company or practice and not the one right after you while they’re scrolling? Going over and consistently stating all of the perks and benefits that you offer as a company will create an amazing employer brand for your company. This will lead to other possible candidates waiting for a position to open up at your company or practice due to your unique and positive benefits.

It’s important to remember how important it is to ensure you are hiring the best candidate possible for the first time.

You can read more about our tips for why hiring the right person is so important for your business.