Job-posting tips from Inside Higher Ed

These days it's easy to plop the information from your jobs database onto a job board and call it a recruitment ad. But unless your job postings sell your openings to terrific applicants, you're wasting time and money. Are your job postings guilty of one of the three key mistakes that turn off top candidates?

1. Terrible titles. Using the job title from your HR database is certainly easy. But robot titles like "Residential Ser Bus Man/Gen Account" (spotted on a college job page recently) or "FT 12 Mo Faculty - 2020A" (running on Inside Higher Ed today) will not induce a talented human to click on your posting.
2. Boring basics. Lots of ads start with l! ong lists of information useful only to your HR database: job number, classification code, job status...yawn. In an online posting you have two lines to capture someone's imagination so start with the reason great candidates want the job.
3. Rote requirements. Of course you need to communicate the job qualifications and the process for applying - but frame your requirements in candidate-centric terms.  Instead of "duties include..." say "you'll have the opportunity to..." Instead of "Qualifications include..." how about "to succeed in this position you'll need..."  Think of your ad text as a letter to the person you want to hire.

A little creativity will make your job postings more effective at attracting the great candidates you want to hire. Get more tips for writing effective postings.

And here's one more great idea for attracting top candidates: post your jobs with Inside Higher Ed - the free daily news Web site for people who work in higher education. Reach our 400,000+ readers with a 30-day posting for just $150.  Click here to post now.

Have a recruiting question? Let me know and we'll address it in a future e-mail.

Best,

Kathlene Collins
Publisher
Inside Higher Ed
202-659-9208, x 103