With candidates viewing a job ad for less than a minute on average, recruiters can’t waste time with these common mistakes.

Picture this. It’s Friday morning. You’re ready for another great day of recruiting, a steaming coffee sits on the desk next to you. This is your zen place.

You fire up your laptop, ready to write a stellar job ad, when it hits you – this seemingly simple copy is actually super important! You can’t just write a ‘whatever’  job ad. This post will be the first point of contact for candidates to the open role, and maybe even your company.

You start downing your coffee and typing furiously. ‘This ad has to be perfect!’ you think. ‘Unless I want to have as much impact as a fly has on a windshield.’

Well, not to alarm you further, but according to a recent study, most job seekers spend a measly 49.7 seconds reviewing a job ad before clicking away.

So, it’s clear the stakes are high, but let’s return to our calm place… put down the coffee, give your keyboard a break, and let’s go over the hallmarks of a successful job ad, and the terrible, no-good, please-don’t-do-thats to avoid at all costs.

1. Sugar-Coating the Company Culture

When writing a job posting, you want to reflect your organization’s culture and connect back to your core values. Now, what you don’t want to do is sugarcoat things and mention values your company doesn’t actually live.  Make sure you are being upfront in your job ads to attract top talent with the right mix of hard and soft skills that would make a great cultural fit.

Why?

If you say your company is ‘all about work-life balance’ when really you expect workers to pull long nights and be reachable at all times, the charade will be up once the new hire starts. Ultimately, the reality will hit them that they were sold a false bill of goods. When that happens, be prepared to see them leave and don’t be surprised when the negative Glassdoor review follows.

Here’s an example of how to be real about your company culture:

We are looking for a Social Media Marketing Specialist who thrives on teamwork and accountability. If you are not OK with hard startup culture, this place might not be a good fit for you…

2. Staying Silent on Benefits and Perks

Lean on your strengths. If your company has great benefits or perks be sure to flaunt them — remote work options, dog-friendly environment, stellar dental plan, public transit passes, whatever it is, candidates will be interested.

Why?

Having selling points in your job ads that showcase how different you are, sets you apart from the competition. Creating these positive differentiators is important, especially if your brand is relatively unknown.

Here is an example of how to showcase benefits:

If you join our team, you won’t have to leave your furry friend alone at home all day, here at our company we have a dog-friendly office. Speaking of friendly, we are also eco-friendly, we encourage our employees to make use of public transit by offering free monthly passes.

3. Using Meaningless Buzzwords

We all want to hire someone who is: A laser-focused self-starter who can hit the ground running with a blue sky thinking to join our team.

So while you might think that cramming your job advert with buzzwords and fancy wording can make you sound more knowledgeable, it actually comes off as vague and lazy; it may even negatively affect your application rate.

Why?

Did you know that 64 percent of job seekers will not apply for a position if they do not understand what it is about? So, make sure to use specific and simple language that actually resonates with your audience. (If you don’t know who your audience is, this article can help you define your candidate persona.)

Here’s an example of a job ad with specific language:

“The ideal candidate is a product manager with a deep understanding of programmatic advertising and machine learning algorithms as they relate to job boards, advertising, and overall job distribution.” – SmartRecruiters, Product Manager Job Post.

4. Not Going Mobile Friendly

Here is some food for thought: Only 42 percent of recruitment sites are mobile friendly, yet 50 percent of candidates use their smartphones to look for and apply to jobs.

Why?

Mobile search is easy! People scroll through ads while watching TV, or maybe even at work. If you manage to tick the mobile box, you will be able to tap into a much larger candidate pool.

Here’s an easy checklist:

• Under 700 words
• Optimized for one-click apply
• Formatted to fit mobile screens

(Check out common mistakes of mobile recruiting!)

Final Thoughts

Often, the best candidates are already employed aka ‘passive talent’, but that shouldn’t dissuade your recruiting efforts. In fact, 51percent of those who do have jobs are searching for new ones or watching for openings. So, your job ad still counts!

If you manage to avoid these job advertisement writing pitfalls, you will max out the odds of sourcing your next Elon Musk.

70% of job searches begin with Google. Now that the search giant has put their job search algorithm into the hands of candidates, will they end there, too?

Following last summer’s release of the employer-focused Google for jobs (GJ), as part of the Cloud Jobs API, Google has now made GJ, complete with AI matching technology to surface job postings on every board they’re advertised, available to American job seekers.

With GJ, candidates can enter a search query like “jobs near me”, or “retail jobs”, and filter the results by location, specialty, company rating, or working hours – with more filters to come for ultra-personalized results. Think Google Flights, but for jobs.

It’s a big deal for both job boards and employers, for very different reasons. Job boards will have to rethink their value proposition to businesses and candidates, and while employers don’t really care whether job boards live or die, but missing out on GJ would mean missing out on candidates…

For candidates, GJ’s appeal is obvious: job boards are usually little different than their newspaper classified predecessors, as in broad, hard to search, and riddled with expired ads. Now, Google’s powerful creepy crawlies aggregate job data from around the internet to make sure posts are both relevant and up to date.

GJ does this by evolving matching technology. The idea being that enormous banks of data surface smarter matches through algorithms powered by AI and machine learning, thus eliminating the hassle of inconsistent job titling from company to company that has plagued candidates in the past.

“If I were Indeed, I would be scared; if I were an ATS that focuses on small- to medium-sized businesses, I would be scared,” says Jonathan Kestenbaum, recruiting tech expert and managing director for Talent Tech Labs. “If I were a Talent Acquisition enthusiast, I would be excited that such a large organization is taking interest in helping innovate within the space.”

Indeed has chosen not to make their jobs crawlable by Google. Rather, they are relying on the strength of their own brand, and the fact that, unlike most job boards, they are already using AI in their matching algorithms. Plus, for now, GJ with the added AI is only up and running in one country, the US, and in one language, English.

Photo Credit: Google Blog

Google may have the advantage of controlling the search engine where 70 percent of job hunts begin, But there’s still the matter of trust to consider. Facebook ran into trouble recently with their job advertising algorithm, when it was found to favor men. (Read why here) The candidate needs to know the AI underlying the search results is not so much a Harry Potter sorting hat, but more a summoning charm.

An accounting recruiter with over a decade of experience, Adam Karpiak says it may be a while before GJ really changes anything. “To the average candidate, job postings are job postings are job postings. These platforms actually make the recruiters look better because we specialize in people, NOT job postings. I’m sure GJ will be [a leg up], for the one percent of companies that understand what’s going on. It’ll take so long to trickle down to most companies, the ones that jump on it will definitely have an advantage.”

Google staunchly insists their new tech isn’t a replacement for job boards. The data giant is, in fact, partnering with LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook, to surface the best opportunities tailored to candidate specifications, hoping their foray into recruiting will push the industry forward in terms of tech innovation.

With more opportunities coming their way, job seekers are going to expect a quick and seamless process. So, recruiters, how can you make sure Google sees, and likes you? First off, make sure your job ad is compatible with Google search – you can check that by clicking here! – and be sure to follow this easy checklist, making sure your ad is:

1. Mobile friendly: Make sure your career site and job posting are easy to navigate on mobile devices, so you don’t miss the casual scrollers!
2. Informative: Adding details like office location, work hours, and flexible work options will make it easy for candidates to surface your job posting.
3. Well Branded: Reviews and content about your company will be more visible than ever, so it’s a great time to make sure everything is up to date. You may even consider branching into new media, like making that career video you’ve been dreaming of.
4. One-click–Apply Ready: Lowers candidate drop out rates, and strengthens your brand in the digital age.
5. Efficient: The influx of candidates means that process becomes extremely important. Make sure your ATS is supporting quick and organized communication for your team, so candidates have a great experience.

Read more about SmartRecruiters Google Job Search functionalities here!

Data from a recent LinkedIn study reveals what candidates actually care about when they weigh their employment options via your job ads, and it’s not “company culture”.

LinkedIn asked 450 candidates to review the example job ad (pictured below) and to highlight the passages they felt most relevant/ likely to make them apply. What the world’s leading business networking site found, from the resulting heat map, is that is it’s time to ax the verbiage and talk details.

Think of a job ad as a first touch, candidates will spend a couple seconds scanning dozens of similar posts to narrow down their job search to a few feasible options. They will want to know the who, what, where, when, and why, and little else.

As you can see from the heat map above, compensation was number one while company details ranked last. LinkedIn saw the same priority ranking from candidates when the participants were asked to name the most important aspects of the job description.

You can see what is important (money) and what is not (company-splaining). So, as hard as it is to face up to the fact that candidates could give a flying mousepad about the company description you agonized over, at least now you can get to writing a job ad people will actually read, and you’re going to do it by dropping these dated gimmicks.

Rambling description of the company mission

Don’t torture yourself creating a counterproductive flowery description, company name, function, location, and an embedded a career video at the bottom is more than enough.

Desired skills and personality traits

Instead of a vague list with flat lines like “team player” or “multi-tasker,” give readers a precise list of responsibilities, like the number of people the new hire will manage, the departments they will work with, and what success in the role looks like.

Compensation DOE (depends on experience)

Compensation and benefits are the two most important details you can include to encourage candidates to click apply so don’t shy away . Give a range of compensations and name some of the benefits of your workplace like “childcare” or “gym membership,” even if it’s simple as “bottomless kombucha” these simple perks will catch applicant attention.

Software development is an increasingly growing field, earning it the Number 7 spot on U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of the best jobs of 2013. The Bureau of Labor Statistic projects a 27.6 percent employment growth for software developers from 2010 to 2020, during which 143,800 software developer jobs will need to be filled.

Top businesses are creative in finding, enticing, and hiring the best developers. In this age of cost and time efficiency, lengthy job postings are not enough. That’s why smart companies have found new and unique ways to call upon job seekers with the right qualities. Here are the 5 most creative developer job posts:

5. McKinsey & Company, a top management consultancy firm, sought out information technology graduates by campaigning on college campuses. They hung posters with a tearable phone number written in the form of a formula. Following this campaign, there was an increase in qualitatively better applicants. This saved McKinsey & Company a lot of time and graduates had minimal frustration of rejection.

4. Electronic Arts (EA) in Canada, the gaming development company, wanted to hire programmers. To do so, they projected an advertisement in ASCII code onto a billboard, which read “Now Hiring” and was strategically placed in front of a competitor’s building. While it caused some controversy in the gaming industry, it was certainly noticed by programmers who were interested, bringing in a rich pool of candidates.

See also:

• The 10 Most Innovative Job Ads
• Best 10 Company Career Pages
• 5 Coolest Recruiting Campaigns

3. Bing found its own way to target potential applicants for a new developer. It hid a job link to the position in the code of its homepage. The catch? You have to be using Internet Explorer and the debug settings enabled in order to see it. If these criteria are met, IE users would encounter a popup asking if they want to debug the web page. Running the tool prompted a new message to apply for the position, including the link. Bing was able to cut down the number of applicants, making way for an increase in the number of talented, Internet Explorer using candidates.

2. Flickr has been all over the news for its recent website redesign. What isn’t as viral is its “Currently Hiring” announcement and job url link, hidden in the source code on the home page. Some job openings include a software and mobile engineer. While these positions are made available on Flickr’s career page, the hidden job ad streams in the type of developers they seek: Those with the technical curiosity and ambition to take a peek at the source code.

1. Google, seeking out the best engineers, had banners consisting of a complicated math problem placed at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The same problem was on a billboard in California’s Silicon Valley, with Google’s name nowhere to be found on these ads. The correct answer led to a website that posed a second problem solving question. Upon answering correctly, Google would request a resume. How’s that for screening talent? Answering these problems is no easy feat. Therefore the engineers that made it through were the exact talents Google was looking for.

In a field like software development, competition for the perfect developer is at an all time high. Why would a talented developer choose your company? Your employer brand must stand out where developers are looking. To save time and resources, take a lesson from these companies.  Reach the exact talent you’re looking for by marketing creatively.

SmartRecruiters is the hiring platform with everything you need to source talent, manage candidates and make the right hires.

The war for talent is waging. Companies are competing harder than ever for top talent, using a plethora of software ranging from the useful to the absurd.  Yet despite all these changes, the job description of many companies hasn’t evolved since the days of the newspaper classified ad. The same boring text. The same laundry list of requirements. Copy-pasted bullet points that do nothing to actually entice the best candidates to apply.

A job posting should be treated like an advertisement. It is the front lines of your recruiting effort, and the first thing a potential candidate sees. First impressions are everything, especially in a world where job posts are everywhere. It’s up to you to stand out from all the noise.

So, how do you write a better job ads? Tell a better story.

Here are 4 tips to writing job ads:

1.     Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal candidate.

Who do you want applying to your job?  If you’re looking to attract top talent, you need to connect with them. Think about what these people are looking for in an opportunity.

According to Workopolis, these are the top 5:

1. Work environment
2. Career advancement opportunities
3. Work/Life balance
4. Location
5. Compensation

And I’d take this a step further. Great people want to work on interesting challenges. They want to work with other great people. They want to make an impact.

Ask yourself a simple question before posting: Would I apply to this job?

2.     Focus on the Why

Don’t use all your real estate detailing exactly what skills are required for the job. Spend time selling candidates on why they should leave their cushy jobs to join you to change the world. You’re competing against tons of recruiters and companies better known than Justin Bieber, and the only way to compete is by being unique. Even though you can’t offer the perks of Google, focus on what makes your opportunity special. Really dig into the reasons why the job matters, and get that message across.

3.     Put a bullet in the bullet points

Yes, I’m sure you’re looking for unicorns with 30 years of experience in Javascript who also happen to have designed the first color TV, but the reality is that the best people are not going to apply to your boring job description. Having impossible requirements isn’t going to change that. Focus on selling to top people, not cutting out the unqualified. Stay focused on what skills truly matter for the job, and keep the bullet points to a minimum.

But, won’t I get more spammy resumes? No. The people who are sending their resumes to everyone will still send you their resume. Less bullet points doesn’t mean more unqualified volume, but it might mean that the most awesome people will give your company a chance.

And do you really need to mention that you’re looking for hard-working, team players? We know.

4.     Get personal

What matters as much as the job itself? The company you’re applying for.  Don’t leave this out of the job ad. People don’t apply for jobs, they apply for companies. So let them know why you’re so awesome.

Cover the basics like benefits, perks, and what you do for fun. If you’re trying to attract folks who care about your kegerator, mention your kegerator. Remember to keep the ad true to your culture, and be honest. If you don’t have daily shiatsu massages, revisit point number two. Perks are great, but true impact is even more so.

How do you write a compelling job ad? Bold question. Check out how personal and connected you feel to this job ad by 37Signals co-founder Jason Fried. So, how do you write a compelling job ad? The real answer is that it depends. The key is to be authentic and focus on what matters most to your company. What is the best job ad you’ve ever seen?

[Editor’s Note: The job ad above was so compelling that it inspired the movie, “Safety Not Guaranteed.” Yeah, you read that right, a job ad inspired a real Hollywood movie (trailer below). For another culturally significant job ad, read “The Onion: The Listening Internship.”]

Download our new White Paper to learn about “The Evolution of Job Posting.” Want to add your job board to the SmartRecruiters Store? Express Interest Here.

In this week’s release, we made it easier to manage the branding of your Careers Page, as well as provided an option to remove the “posted by” section per user on the job post. In addition, we improved our user experience by posting notifications in HireLoop of duplicate applications by a candidate while continuing to maintain the candidate’s profile for only one job.

We have also implemented a backend enhancement to automatically clear the cache for every user with each new SmartRecruiters product release.

You can now consistently manage your company logo on the Company Information section of the Admin page.

To add it to your Careers Page, you can select this option now on the Banner tab when configuring your branding options.

Also, when you post a job to your social networks, you now have the option to deselect the posted by identification section on the job ad. Users can manage this feature on each job that they post.

We are also making it easier to see when candidates apply to multiple jobs in your HireLoop feed on the homepage in your account. The notification communicates that the candidate also expressed interest in a second job that is currently posted in your SmartRecruiters account. However, we do not duplicate the candidate profile for additional job applications and will only maintain their profile on the first job to which they applied and are still active.

To share your feedback, please check out our customer support community  or give us a shout at support@smartrecruiters.com and 415 508 3755.

I am a master packer. Seriously, I am a pro. I once fit a weeklong trip to London from Oklahoma City in a carry on suitcase and a backpack complete with an assortment of clothes and work items like my phone, laptop, camera, and the assorted array of cords that accompany such things.

Proper packing of a suitcase takes planning, organization, and a little flair.  For example, I like to roll up my clothing very tightly fitting more in a smaller space.  Items are packed in order of priority and their importance with the most used items being packed last. All this organization, planning, and strategy can be applied to writing your job ad.

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• Choose Your Message Carefully.  Since I have limited space in my suitcase, I choose my wardrobe very carefully.  Outfits and pieces can be worn multiple ways and are organized based on the weather and purpose of my trip.  Your job ad is the same.  The marketing must craft your message of the job, share your company’s story, and stay true to (or better yet, improve) your employer brand.

• Neutral Colors Are Best.  As I mentioned my shoes, scarves, pants, and jackets work together to pull off multiple looks with as little time and effort. I like to be in control and hate carrying around extra weight in the name of fashion. Consider the simplicity of bullet points. Trendy and flashy accessories like jewelry, hats, and boots take up space and detract from my overall job ad and employment brand message.

• Organize Your Efforts but Be Creative.  One of my favorite travel accessories is my cord organizer keeping my smartphone and laptop cords and batteries from being a jumbled and knotted mess.  The bag’s intended purpose was originally for cosmetics and jewelry, but it provides a different solution that leaves all my must have electronic accessories easily within reach.  Standard job ads are boring, and while you should organize your efforts to suit you target job seeker audience, don’t be afraid to be a little creative and unconventional especially if it serves a higher purpose – gaining the attention of your targeted and qualified candidate audience.

Writing a job ad that encompasses the job opening is not easy.  It requires planning, creativity, and consistency.  Arm your recruiting team with the proper traveling accessories and equipment to source, recruit, and hire the best qualified candidate for your organization.

 Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a workplace and technology strategist specializing in social media. She’s an author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. When she talks, people listen.

When writing a job posting quite often the author writes it from their point of view. After all it is their job and their company, so why not write the job posting to reflect what they want? The problem is that the biases of the writer may become apparent in the language that is used in the job posting. Here’s how to avoid bias language in job postings.

What is Prohibited Job Ad Language?

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the governmental agency that oversees Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the protections provided for “protected categories.” On their web page entitled  Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices they give some specific examples of how employers can get in trouble with language in the recruiting process. They specifically say:

“It is illegal for an employer to publish a job advertisement that shows a preference for or discourages someone from applying for a job because of his or her race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.”

For example, phrases around origin, religion, and physical condition such as “American born,” “Christian values,” and “must be in good health” can (and probably will) get employers in trouble.

Examples of Prohibited Job Posting Language

These examples from actual job ads – give examples of some prohibited job postings language, and the reason why:

*3-5 years of related experience in Human Resources and Payroll. This implies that someone with more experience, such as an older candidate with more than 5 years of experience would not be welcome. 

*Housewife. Bus Boy. Waitress. Houseman. Stay away from gender specific titles.

*Reliable transportation. Unless the transportation is needed to conduct the on the clock work. 

*If you would like to be considered for our team of entertainers, text your first name, your height and weight, your age, your city of residence, and your contact information Height, weight and age are not requirements to be stated unless they are what is known as BFOQs (Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications). The EEOC takes a very dim view of their use.

In job postings it is important to keep your language job-related. Describe the work to be done and the work habits and characteristics necessary to accomplish the work. Avoid describing characteristics, especially physical characteristics, of the potential employee.

Liability

As an employer you are not only held liable for the your actions, but also for the actions of all employees involved in the recruitment process and for those people who are acting as your agents. You need good (and compliant) job ads. This means that any recruitment agency that is working on your behalf must also comply with the EEOC standards.  If they don’t, not only can they have legal difficulties but those difficulties can be extended to you, the actual employer. So review and approve any job postings they are using on your behalf.

Mike Haberman is the HR Compliance Guy. He is a HR consultant and Partner at OmegaHRSolutions. Photo Credit PivotalMatters.

In addition to a more appealing layout, our new job ad makes it easier for people to share your jobs via email or on their social networks, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. We also put an employee face with the job by adding who posted the job from the company and their location. Finally, we’ve made the first step in our application process more friendly by asking candidates to express interest in the job with an “I’m Interested” button versus using a traditional “Apply Now” button. These changes are retroactive for all job ads and will help you attract even better candidates, including those passive candidates who are interested in your jobs but may not have the time to apply.

We retired our “Accepted” status on the job and the candidate profile for a more relevant and intuitive “Hired” status. When you move a candidate to this status on a job, SmartRecruiters prompts you to confirm hiring and provide a start date.

We’ve also added days available criteria to our Work Shifts question in our Screening Questions. Candidates can now define their availability for all days or individual days of the week. This is particularly helpful for employers who are looking to place part-time or seasonal employees in hourly roles that have more flexible shift requirements.

Please see Get Satisfaction to review bug fixes in this release, and as always, we look forward to your feedback!

Companies should treat the job posting just as they would as website or Internet landing page. It should be interesting, appealing, and gain the attention of the right audience. Job postings on your company career page, social networking site, or on a job board, should be optimized for search.  And by search I mean SEO or search engine optimization. Because without the use of common search terms used by your online job seeker audience, your job requisition is reaching no one or the wrong candidate altogether.

When writing an online job posting, it’s important to work directly with your hiring manager to get an understanding of job specifics including daily responsibilities and must-have qualifications. I have had most success using a standard questionnaire allowing me to uncover the hidden qualifications that recruiters typically learn about after the first round of interviews.

How to Make a Job Posting

While I recommend skimming a copy of the official corporate job description, it’s important to realize that many job descriptions are ineffective or outdated. Perfect job posting requires a research element.  Meaning that one must search similar job postings found online looking for specific keyword combinations, information, and skill sets overlooked by your hiring manager.
Once you have determined the most important sets of skills and qualifications, I recommend using an online keyword evaluation tool like Google’s Keyword Tool. It provides you with information about your keywords and combinations including number of monthly searches, keyword competition level, and other common searched for terms. It’s important to select several keyword combinations to focus on appropriately sprinkling them throughout your online job posting. This can be accomplished by providing a general general description at the beginning of your posting and including a bulleted list making sure to mention several of your keywords multiple times for optimized results. Be sure to link back to your original career job posting somewhere within your posting that is listed elsewhere. SmartRecruiters branded job ads are another good way to optimize your job posting within search engines. Search engines love link backs elevating your original job posting in search engine sites like Bing, Yahoo, or Google.

Promoting your openings using social media not only helps you reach wider audiences, but also elevates your job posting within search. Be sure to include a variety of selected keywords and hash tags, increasing the likelihood that you’re corporate career site will be found. Better yet, use your company’s career blog to further support your online posting efforts focusing on keywords and job search tips to attract an appeal to reoccurring job postings.

While optimizing your online job posting takes a small amount of effort, the results can drive qualified candidates instead of all candidates to your job postings. This makes the selection and interview process less time consuming and that much easier.

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.

Photo Credit: ChaiyoHosting