Get every last drop out of your job board posts

Broadbean

SPONSORED ARTICLE

Contrary to some rather loud blog posts, job boards aren’t dead; in fact, they remain at the #3 position in external hire sources.

While LinkedIn has knocked job boards down a peg or two since they hit the scene, there is some contention about which group of external hire sources LI falls into.

We digress, and the fact remains that job boards still account for about 15-20% of external hires, so let’s talk about how to get every last drop out of your job board posts.

What’s going on with job boards?
We know that 69% of job seekers utilise job boards in their hunt. How are such a high percentage of job seekers resulting in only 15-20% of external hires? About 85% of sourcers utilise job boards in their candidate attraction strategies, but just 23% of them are able to fill about half of their jobs with this attraction medium. Sounds like job boards are the culprit, right? Wrong.

“Is this because job boards don’t work as well as they used to, or is it because 32% of sourcers admit to making no effort to optimize their jobs to be found by job seekers?” – 2014 Social Talent Global Sourcing Survey

Ahhh…I see
So there’s the real reason (or at least a big one) sourcers and recruiters aren’t seeing optimal results from job boards, because they’re not optimizing their posts. These posts are paid, so there’s no reason for those crafting these posts to fail in optimizing their ROI by putting some time and thought into the process.

Then you’re stuck with the age-old recruiter conundrum: how do I know what works and what doesn’t? Job posting tools that integrate with current systems and workflows give recruiters insights and objective data about their online recruitment performance metrics. You can effortlessly uncover which job posts are performing on which boards in real-time, and adjust your spend, messaging and overall strategy when it matters – now.

Want to see what one of these job posting tools looks like? Take BroadbeanPosting for a spin. 

Job posts that bring sexy back
Job posting tools make the fine-tuning strategy part pretty simple, but you still have to craft those job posts. Consider these tips from CareerBuilder from, “8 Tips to Take Your Job Postings from Boring to Sexy” when you’re crafting those optimized job posts. 

Stop and ask yourself: what would job seekers do?
Get in the brain of a Java developer, a sales rep, and a call centre rep. What are their needs; what perks are they looking for; what messaging will reach them; what can you highlight about this company that would speak to them?

Don’t underestimate great design
It’s not rocket science. In fact, it’s pretty common sense – the eye is drawn to interesting or aesthetically pleasing images.

Show off the company’s personality and culture
Don’t over think it. It really only takes one sentence, or even one word. Are you family-oriented, fun, flexible? Do you focus on sustainability, wellness or work/life balance? Whatever it is, tell them and be honest about it.

What are your competitive differentiators?
Basically, an I can do anything you can do better statement about the other guys. Perk it up!

What’s so great about the work?
Showcase some of the more relevant and interesting responsibilities they would have in this position. Aside from job requirements, what will they actually be doing?

Spice up your tone
Show off your brand, not your bland. Corporate positions can be fun too; just as quality talent can also be fun. You don’t have to use a serious tone to get serious candidates.

The job title isn’t where you need to get creative
Think about search for a moment; no one is searching “Java Ninja”. Keep job titles simple and consistent. Save that creative juice for the rest of the post.

Don’t post half-baked job posts
Remember that stat way up there? – 32% of sourcers admit to making no effort to optimize their jobs to be found by job seekers. CareerBuilder suggests writing up a draft and revisiting it the next day. This gives you fresh eyes for creativity and proofing.

On a final note, it’s important for recruiters to know that 62% of job seekers will check you out on social media, to make sure your story matches up.

So, while job board traffic doesn’t always convert, your job posts matter more than you think.

Broadbean has an entire suite of products to help you post, search and use social media optimally to reach and land the talent you need.