Job Posting Tips: How to Attract Top Talent

If you’re hunting for top talent, writing a compelling job advertisement is the only way to start. Top talent seekers are the ones scrolling quickly through a minimal amount of job openings. To reach these people your advertisement needs to be compelling and instantly resonate with high performing individuals. Also presenting and posting a job advertisement in an appealing manner could reduce the risk of receiving an overload of low achievers and make your life a lot easier. Here are 4 tips to help ensure your job post really stands out and attracts the best candidates.

1. Stand out early
Your title needs to stand out from the other 100 or so job posts that are offering the same benefits. I’m sure you’d be more likely to click on the link that reads ‘SEEKING CAREER DRIVEN SOCIAL WORKER’ than just ‘Social Worker’.

2. Give details
At this point, the jobs seeker only knows the position and company name. That’s all! Therefore, don't hold back when presenting the opportunity and the company in the description box. Give the job seeker some interesting information about the company, because they may have never heard of you. Don’t forget to make it interesting! For example, turn ‘New company located in Melbourne CBD seeks..’ into ‘Exciting new company seeks driven ___________ to join our innovative team with great career incentives.’ Keep your tone and energy consistent, this is all part of walking the talk and showing the true value and culture you have helped build up over your company’s life.

3. “For you to be considered, you must possess the following...”
As a previous job seeker, you may have seen this sentence and then seen it generally followed with ‘great career opportunities and ability to work in fast paced and friendly environment.’ As nice as it was to read that ALL these companies ALL cared about you having opportunities and challenging myself, you were probably longing for the time when you read an attributes section that didn’t look like they’d opened a thesaurus and searched for the word ‘hard worker’. It saves you money and the job seekers time if you simply let them know exactly what attributes or qualifications they need to even be considered for this job.

4. Add some character
Character and attitude in a job description translates so easily into first impressions, and leads to action from top (and time poor) talent! Describe to them what the work culture is like and use language that is going to convince this person excited to work with you.

Good luck with your next job posting!


Advertise your job with Career Exchange, one of Australia’s largest allied health careers communities, with effective direct advertising available for employers.

Career Exchange sends regular job, event, and classifieds alerts to a large database of allied health professionals, with strong branding flexibility for advertisers.

To view examples, prices and to register your free account please visit www.careerexchange.com.au. If you’d like to know about how our partners can engage the branding or hiring process of your next health hire contact info@careerexchange.com.au or call 03 9670 0590

So you missed the job application deadline…Apply for it anyway!

It is closing onto midnight and your eyes are half closed as you mind-numbingly scroll through the endless list of jobs on your favourite job seeking website. Suddenly something catches your eye! Can it be? IT IS! The perfect position that you’ve been dreaming of! You’re filled with excitement as you gloss over the selection criteria: qualifications- check, experience- check, location- check, availability- check. And then you reach the application details and your heart sinks. Closing date... yesterday.

Before you melt into a puddle of disappointment, it’s not the end of the world! The reason why the closing date is there is because the employer will need to start selecting potential candidates at some point and likely have internal processes and systems to adhere to, but they aren’t going to decide who gets the job as soon as the clock ticks over the specific time and date necessarily.

While it is best to get your application in before the specified date it’s important to realise the employer is going to want to hire the candidate who expresses the most interest and enthusiasm with the best job-fit, not whoever waltzes through first. Many human resource managers agree that it’s worth submitting an application even after the deadline. Unless strictly stated that they will not accept applications after the date (e.g. some government departments or large organisations), apply for the job anyway!

Here are some handy tips for applying after the deadline:

Call someone: Definitely get in touch with the contact person or the hiring manager listed on the job ad. Express your genuine interest for the position, and rather than ASK if it’s still okay to send in an application. TELL the person that you are very interested in the role advertised and you would truly appreciate the opportunity to send through an application.

Once you have called ahead, the hiring person is going to be anticipating your application. Send it in as soon as you can. Ensure you thank them for their consideration.

Be honest in the cover letter: They know you’ve applied late, might as well own up to it. Remind the hiring person you’ve already spoken to them; this may even put yourself ahead of other candidates, as it’s much easier to remember a personified applicant over a piece of paper. Tell them that you only discovered the role through a network/colleague past the deadline, or that you were told about the position by a colleague late, or whatever other reason. It is important to be honest and thankful for their time and consideration.

Consider a special delivery: Hand delivering an application may be an effective way to get your foot in the door. Going in person can have many advantages over submitting an application, such as, the opportunity to speak directly to the decision maker, and getting a feel for the organisation you want to work with. And who knows, you might just catch them at a good time and land an on-the-spot interview! Even if they are adamant in keeping to the deadline, you might learn about upcoming job openings. This could give you an advantage over other applicants as you are in a great position to detail your interest right then and there to a potential future employer.

If it’s that particular company or organisation that you love and missed an opportunity with, leave them an application for future openings. They might contact you sooner than you think!

Move on and forward: If you have tried all you can in applying but are still unable to land that dream job, try and view the experience as a positive one.  You have made another contact and are now aware of another organisation to keep an eye on and one to keep in contact with. Use this knowledge to research other similar organisations that may have roles like the one you just missed out on. 

4 ways to modernise your job ads

The job advertisement process is the most important aspect of maximising public and professional interest for your position. Not only does an excellent advertisement stand out, but it entices more seekers and higher quality applicants who are more discerning about their application time to actively apply for the job. This allows the organisation to choose from a higher quality applicant pool and increase the likelihood of finding the most suitable candidate.

So, how does a company attract a wider and higher quality employee selection if the job does not appear enticing enough?

Simple! Any one of these four efforts can brighten up a less than exciting job position:

1. A catchy professional job title that helps your cause

First thing’s first, no one wants to search for a job and see a standard, boring title. Create more interest off the mark by turning the job title into an eye-catching headline.

For example: “Web Developer Wanted” can be turned into: “Powerhouse Web Developer Wanted for VC-Funded Social Start-up.”

Not only does this title grab the audience with the term “Powerhouse”, it also quickly describes the main aspect of the job. When we’re asked to help with titles for Allied Health positions it’s good to think about matching your core need to how ideal candidates should view themselves. ‘Driven,’ ‘Independent’ or ‘Team Leading’ used with ‘fast-paced,’ ‘independent’ or ‘growing’ workplace can quickly get out what kind of organisational environment exists and what the expectations could be.

2. Use a video presentation to show candidates the environment they could be working in

Many companies have a video conveying the organisation in a professional and enticing manner. Other videos show off the culture and friendliness of the team members. Providing a cinematic alongside the advertisement will more likely capture a larger audience at a lower cost. Any recruiter can film staff members with a video camera and create a fun yet professional video about the company. Also, making the office environment work friendly and aesthetically attractive will entice viewers to ‘want to work there’.

  

3. Engage the seeker with questions

Ask candidates questions to stimulate their responses, such as “are you looking for excitement?”, “want a friendly workplace environment?”  If it really is what some people might call a dull position be sure to use questions that highlight what kind of people will thrive - “can you criticise your own work outcomes?” or “are you able to shine with minimal supervision?”. Be sure to be honest and open about your workplace, you want realistic interest not a resume overload or retraction of enthusiasm at the interview phase.

 4. Have an innovative website

An organisation’s webpage is also an extremely important indicator for how an applicant feels about potentially working for your business. Making your webpage STAND OUT amongst other pages, as well as being easy to navigate are important aspects of successfully recruiting employees.  Consider including snippets and stories in a Careers section about current employee’s experiences and daily life. See more about creating a highly usable website.

All in all, if your job ad can bring high quality applicants closer to feeling ‘a part of’ your organisation in the early phases of awareness, you will receive more serious and dedicated applications. With many changes in job search behaviour including higher mobile use and passive seeking, seekers spend less time reading the particulars of job ads and need to find reasons to pay full attention, especially if they’re strong applicants!

Need help piecing together a job ad campaign that gets attention?

We often receive questions along the lines of “are you able to revive my job ad?” or “can you make my brand stand out a bit more in this ad?” and the answer is always “yes!” If you have a goal to achieve in your next hiring campaign be it increased retention or reduced resume overload, there IS a way to make that happen in your initial advertising stages. Speak to a Career Exchange consultant about how we can make your ad stand out in an engaged and directed way! Email us at info@careerexchange.com.au or call 03 9670 0590.