How To: Optimise Job Posts

Crafting an effective job posting is as much an art as it is a science. A well optimised job posting will present well on job boards, be easily searchable and is enticing to the candidates you are targeting to fill the role. Furthermore, optimised posts tend to generate more qualified applications and can reduce the time to hire. Our data has shown that successful jobs tend to have at least around 50 candidates over its posting duration.

While there are a number of variables that influence how well a job performs, found below are some of our recommendations to consider when posting your job post.

 

Job title

When considering what to title the posting, remove extra or descriptive terms which can instead be placed within the job description itself.

If you are hiring for a Sales Representative, that should be the job title. Avoid using all capital letters, jargon or special characters (like &, $, !) as this can impact the visibility of the job in search results. Using terms like ‘Ninja’ or ‘Guru’ can be eye-catching when found, but the job itself will struggle to appear in search results as candidates are unlikely to use terms like these when searching for their next job.

If you’re targeting candidates with a certain level of experience, you may want to specify the career level in your title (e.g. Entry-Level Accountant).

Start typing in the job title field to see Workable's suggestions.

 

Job location

Include a complete and specific location for the job: All the way down to the post/zip code. Many job boards require a post/zip code to advertise your job. If you’re recruiting for the same job in different locations, clone the job and adjust the location.

When hiring for fully remote positions - where the candidate will be permanently remote - select the ‘Fully Remote’ checkbox. You should still fill in a location, typically using your company’s headquarters or at least the country in which you’re recruiting.

For jobs that offer work-from-home flexibility, or where work will be done between the office and an alternate location, do not use the ‘Fully Remote’ checkbox. Instead, add those details in the description or benefits section of your post.

 

Job description

A job description should be detailed enough to allow candidates to determine if they’re qualified for the position. It should also communicate important details about your company — its culture and the benefits it provides employees. In general, we’ve found that the optimal job length is around 1,400 characters. The reason for this is that more candidates view job postings through a mobile device and this provides enough room to adequately describe the role while maintaining readability across multiple device types.

We’ve broken this down into 3 main components, with the primary focus being to set and manage candidate expectations as early as possible during the hiring process:

Description

Open with a paragraph that clearly describes the role and how it relates to the company. It can also be helpful to provide a brief description of the company culture or industry with an explanation as to why the role being offered is essential. Don’t be afraid to front-load important information about the job’s requirements and benefits to deter unsuitable candidates from applying, providing examples of day to day activities and define what success in the role will look like. 

Requirements

The aim is to have enough detail that most viewers of the posting will be able to ‘self qualify’ and apply only if they feel suitable. Highlight the skills, education, certification or years of experience a candidate needs to demonstrate in order to be successful in the role. 

Be inclusive through the use of gender-neutral language to appeal to a larger audience. Substituting words like ‘competitive’ with ‘goal-oriented’ would be an example on which a more masculine term is substituted with a gender-neutral one.

Benefits

Where possible, be specific about compensation, perks and benefits being offered. An exact salary range will be more appealing compared to a statement that this information will be discussed later on in the process. This will save you valuable time in the hiring process by reducing the number of applications that might be trying their luck.

 

Setting other job details

You can specify certain aspects of a job to directly influence how it’s displayed in candidates’ searches, email notifications and filtering.

Below the job editor, fill in all the fields that appear for the best results. Each option will help you reach more of the right candidates.

Choose the most relevant option for the job. Some fields are not editable since the selections map to the specific ways that boards categorize posts. Find an option that’s a good fit. You can always provide more background in the description.

The “Keywords” section has hidden functionality that will parse resume details and help you source candidates. Add important terms or skills that candidates should ideally have. However, keep in mind that for the best search engine optimization you should also include key search terms naturally in the description.

 

Application form

When creating an application form, consider the information that would already be present in a candidate’s resume or CV. Avoid redundant, overly personal questions or those that do not assist your Hiring Team in determining whether a candidate should get that first interview. The application form should be treated as the first point of screening for candidates and questions should relate back to the job’s requirements.

Consider the time investment required to complete the form against the role, and adjust accordingly. Questions designed to determine a candidate’s personality, cultural fit or aptitude for a given skill can take a back-seat or be omitted entirely since these are often repeated in interviews or assessments further down the line.

 

Publishing the job

With your job post optimized, you’re ready to publish! Clicking the Publish button will send your post out to all available free job boards. Review the Find Candidates tab to see exactly where the job will be posted.

Workable sends your job out immediately, but it can take up to 36 hours for the post to go live everywhere as job boards collect the post.

Be sure to spread the word through your company and on social media too.