How To Write (Better) Job Postings That Get Results

by Angela Loeb

Having trouble attracting candidates? Wondering if you could improve your job postings to improve your results? Below are some expert tips and insights on how to write job postings that get results.

Job Posting Format

As you know, your job postings are often the first impression a candidate has of your company. When you’re competing for talent in a tight market, it’s especially important to make the best impression possible. Just like you appreciate reviewing resumes that are well-organized and easy to read and digest, candidates appreciate and respond better to well-organized, well-formatted job postings.

In case you’re wondering, there are typically 5 main parts or sections in a job posting:

1. The part where you grab their attention.

When candidates look at an open position, they are not only considering whether they have the skills needed, they’re also wondering what makes this a good job for them. They’re looking for a compelling reason to apply.

Many postings out there tend to tell the “story” from the company’s point of view. “We need this” and “we need that.” While that is important to convey, it’s also important to make it personal and more emotionally appealing to the job seeker who’s looking through many other competing job ads. When candidates make the effort to look at job postings, it means they’re feeling dissatisfied, and their dissatisfaction is strong enough and painful enough to motivate them to want to make a change. Even if they’re only casually looking, they’re still going to respond best to something that emotionally grabs them.

One proven way to grab attention is to lead with some questions meant to appeal to the candidate’s desire for a great job with a great company or the candidate’s passion for the work he or she would be doing in the role you’re trying to fill. Questions like: “Are you passionate about…?”; “Are you looking for a team where you can…?”; “Do you love working with customers who…?”; etc.

Once you’ve asked a question that addresses possible pain points that a candidate could be feeling, the rest of your posting needs to at least start to provide an answer. You need to offer a “picture” of where the person wants to be but, unfortunately, isn’t currently (and could be if they work for your company in this role). You’ve made them curious to know if your company and this open position could be the right one for them. They’ll need to apply to find out.

2. The part where you talk about your company.

This is where you’ll include a sentence or two about what your company does, what your company is known for, and why it’s appealing to work there. Sometimes, this part is positioned beneath the attention grabber where it will start to answer questions you may have just posed. Sometimes it’s a section that you put at the bottom of the posting. There’s no hard and fast rule about where to put it. It’s just a good idea to have it and that you make it short and to the point.

If you’re wondering what to say, try to put yourself in the candidate’s shoes. You were once a job seeker, right? What did you care about? Also consider what you know your employees care about and why they like working for your company. For example, if your company offers competitive compensation and/or excellent benefits, use this to your advantage and mention it here in this section.

Pro Tip: Candidates are more likely to apply to postings that include the pay range, however if you choose not to include the pay range, and you know it’s competitive with the market, be sure to say it’s competitive. Also, you don’t have to go into an exhaustive list of your excellent benefits package, but at least mention a few of the juiciest benefits your company offers.

3. The part where you briefly summarize the role.

This is where you will provide an overview of what is expected in the role. To keep it concise and avoid getting too long-winded, it’s best to think in threes. Here are some “think in threes” questions to ask yourself when writing this section:

What are the three most important functions that the person in this role will be responsible for?
What are three important intangible qualities or traits that the person in this role must have?

It’s common to add a sentence that describes what will make a candidate succeed in this role, but if you want to elaborate further on this, you can even create an additional section below the summary section, labeling it something like “To Succeed In This Role.” Again, it’s all about laying out the content in a well-organized, easily digestible way. Sections that are too long won’t be read, so break them up into smaller sections if you must.

4. The part where you describe the role in more detail using bullet points.

Now, it’s time to spell out more details about the tasks and duties of the position, and this is best presented as a bulleted list. You can label this section with the tried and true “Job Duties” or “Essential Responsibilities,” and that will work, of course. But consider using something more interesting, such as “What You’ll Be Doing” or “What You’ll Do” as your label for this section.

5. The part where you list the required and preferred qualifications using bullet points.

Many candidates will immediately jump down to this section first and then go back up to read the sections above after determining that they have the qualifications included on this list. That’s why it’s important to carefully consider what you’re putting in this list. Sometimes this section is generally labeled “Qualifications” and includes a combination of what is required (must have) and preferred (nice but not necessary to have). However, sometimes this information is presented as two bulleted sections instead – one for the required qualifications followed by preferred qualifications.

You will most likely include items that you’ve already mentioned in the previous sections of the job posting in order to emphasize them, but you can also add new items about the job as well. Here are the items typically covered in this list:

Level of experience. Ordering your list is important, and, if you’re including this item, it’s best to place it first in the list. NOTE: Though it’s customary to include a certain number of years of experience required, keep in mind that sometimes it’s the quality of experience and not the quantity of experience that matters most. As talent acquisition expert Chris Mulhall aptly points out, “Not all ‘years of experience’ are weighted equally. At a high growth organization, it can feel like you’re learning in dog years. The breadth and depth of experience gained in one year is comparable to working seven years at a more stagnant company.”
Level of education, licenses, and/or certifications. If you’re including this item, it’s best to place it second in the list.
Professional skills and/or special expertise.
Intangible traits. NOTE: Think carefully about the traits you choose to list. Don’t just add the ones that sound good to include but can be found in just about every job posting on the internet. A best practice is to include 3-5 traits that are most predictive of success for the specific role you’re trying to fill – traits that you will base situational/behavioral interview questions on during the screening and interview process.

Bonus 6^th Part – The part where you invite candidates to apply.

Depending on how and where you are posting the position, it’s probably obvious what the candidate should do next… click a button to upload a resume, complete the online application, etc. However, you might want to include an invitation to apply so that rather than ending with the qualifications list, you conclude with a very simple line addressing the applicant with warmth and enthusiasm. Using enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily mean using an exclamation point as in “Apply with us today!” although it certainly can mean doing exactly that. It can also just be a simple, “Interested? If so, please submit your resume for immediate consideration.”

Person Point of View

While all of the tips above are extremely useful to consider when writing your next job posting, there is one simple tip that is probably the most effective of all in terms of improving your results: Use first-person and second-person pronouns, eliminating third-person point of view whenever possible.

In other words, use “we,” “us,” and “our” when referring to your company or team, such as “We’re looking for…” and “Our company is driven by…”

And address the candidate directly by using “you.” For example, instead of “The successful candidate will possess…” say, “You’ll succeed in this role if you possess…” Or instead of “The perfect fit for this role is an individual who is self-motivated and eager to grow a career in…” say, “You’ll fit in perfectly with us if you’re self-motivated and eager to grow your career in…”

Using personal pronouns this way accomplishes two things:

It makes the tone of the posting warm, friendly, and approachable, and, therefore, your company comes across as appealing.
It creates an irresistible intimacy because the candidate feels like you’re speaking directly to him or her, and the candidate feels psychologically drawn to respond.

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