Tips for writing a great job posting
The quality of your job posting can have a huge impact on the quality and quantity of applications you receive. Your posting is the first interaction with a potential candidate, so it’s important that you make a great first impression. An effective job posting breaks down in to the following elements; fine-tune these to perfect your posting:
Title A good title for a job posting clearly states the job’s role, highlights a single position and isn’t a “catch-all” jumble of buzzwords. Strong titles don’t include internal tracking codes, or marketing language such as “hot,” “immediate hire,” or “multiple positions.” They shouldn’t include position-specific details such as “full time” or “contract to hire,” which should be included in the relevant areas within the job description. Add key skills commonly searched by candidates in on our site to make your advert titles catchy, visible and relevant! Tips for writing a great job posting
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Examples of good job titles:
Examples of poor job titles:
• • • • •
•
Lead Java Developer (Java, Javascript, SQL) Java Software Developer: Web UI iCloud Java Server Engineer (Engenier, C#, Java) Java Software Engineer (Identity Platform) PPC Manager – Fashion/Apparel – Google AdWords/Bing Ads (Even though this doesn’t include ‘Java,’ it is a specific position for an internal division or product)
•
•
UI & J2EE Architect / Java Developer / Java Lead / Java Solution Architect (Too many variations, so it’s hard to know what the actual position is.) IMMEDIATE HIRE – Core Java Developer (Terms like ‘immediate hire’ & ‘multiple positions’ are misleading and make the position feel spammy.) 8863 iOS Developer – Engineer/Sr. Engineer Innovation (Includes a random job number that is only understandable by the Employer.)
Three key points to cover when writing a job ad are:
Attract
Engage
Act
Does the ad attract the attention from potential candidates?
Does the job detail keep the candidate engaged?
What is the call to action?
Tips for writing a great job posting
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Position type
Skills & Experience
An individual job posting should only con-
Introduce the right skills and introduce them
tain a single type, or multiple types that are
in different ways.
directly related. For example, you should
It’s important to make sure the required years of experience
avoid posting a position as both Full Time
is accurate based on the skills or technologies used in the job.
and Contract, as that makes it hard to sort in
ing a tech skill that hasn’t been in existence for that long (e.g.
a search and attracts two completely differ-
Don’t apply a blanket “10+ years of experience” to a job requiriOS has only been around for 8 years.)
ent types of candidates—unless you want Contract candidates mixed in with Full Time ones.
Optimising the advert
If multiple types are included, they should have common
will improve the ranking of the
characteristics. For example, “Contract Corp-to-Corp” and “
advert on site. If the advert
Contract Independent.”
appears higher in searches, it will receive more exposure.
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Job description Job descriptions should open with a strong, attention-grabbing paragraph that captures the key elements of the opportunity and the
Capture the day-to-day functions of the position, including added job benefits, tech stack, technology equipment provided, etc. This gives candidates insight into what they should expect on a daily basis. You also need to present your organisation in the clearest and best light: Provide information about your company, its culture,
company. Any description of what the job
the problems it solves, and how the position will help your com-
entails should be very conversational and
pany achieve its goals.
informal.
Keywords should be mentioned in your job posting. Rather than
Qualifications should be clear and descriptive. Include minimum qualifications, preferred qualifications and “nice to haves” that are specific and realistic. Don’t try and get someone who is an expert in everything; they probably don’t exist. When writing the description, remember to leave room for growth. Define the skills that are specific to the position, while identifying areas or new skills that the potential candidate can learn on the job.
writing “You will” within the text, say “The Java Developer will”. At the bottom of the advert, write “To apply for the Java Developer role, click ‘Apply now’ button”. And most of all, remember to be honest, transparent and conversational. Pretend you’re chatting with a friend and you’re pitching them the job. Show candidates why they would want to work there; and don’t try to position the company as something it’s not.
Don’t use acronyms or abbreviations Most candidates don’t search for acronyms or abbreviations. Try to use full words or phrases, particularly in job titles.
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Optimum times to post jobs on Dice
15%
41%
of total applications are submitted over the weekend
of total applications are submitted on Monday or
In the UK, over 30% of
40%
Tuesday
all searches happen on
15%
of profile updates
of profile updates
happen on
happen over the weekend
10%
Monday & Tuesday with peaks at 10am.
Monday or Tuesday Only 10% of weekly
of onsite searches occur over the weekend
searches happen over the weekend.
42%
of onsite searches occur on a Monday or Tuesday they peak at 10 AM Local Time.
39%
of onsite searches occur on Monday or Tuesday Tips for writing a great job posting
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Keep it simple and engaging Candidates often don’t read large chunks of text, so use bullet points and plenty of white space to make your advert appealing. Concentrate on selling the key benefits of the role and company.
Other things to consider Some important tips to throw into the mix: • Advertise a Salary and/or Salary Range: The salary offered
• The location of the position should be clearly defined, so
should reflect a realistic number that is competitive to the
the candidate knows what to expect. “Hiring Nationwide”
market and skills required. Remember that the tech indus-
can make recruiting more challenging and make candi-
try’s low unemployment rate means tough competition for
dates think the posting is just fishing for CV’s. Commute
the best talent.
time is a critical decision factor, especially in competitive
• Jobs that require a security clearance generate a similar number of views on Dice as those that don’t require it, but often receive about half of the applications. There is a smaller pool of candidates with a security clearance, thus competition is high.
regions. • List all benefits (if your offering any) after explaining the role first and talking about the company. • Use bullet points within your text to that your advert looks more appealing and easy to read to candidates.
• Consider the demand for the position for which you are recruiting. Factors such as newness of the tech skills required, number of candidates in your area, seniority, and competing companies will have an impact on your application rate. Think about how you can stand out from the crowd.
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Unoptimised vs Optimised Advert Example
Unoptimised advert JavaScript Developer The Skills required for this JavaScript / UI software developer role are: Excellent and proven experience with hand-coded Javascript, HTML, CSS2, HTML 5, CSS3, excellent knowledge of jQuery libraries and Angular experience Role Description: Rapidly growing software house which use the latest technology stack and work with a wide range of exciting technologies seek a UI developer to join a rapidly growing engineering function, which use the latest methods (TDD, BDD, Kanban, Continuous Integration, Scrum etc) and offer lots of scope to learn new technologies, work on a wide variety of challenging and ground-breaking projects. The role will involve implementation of UI components to required standard, working with design team to translate the user experience and design elements into web application components. You will develop highly performant web interfaces using reusable component designs where appropriate and liaise with QA to support testing and resolve issues identified by them. Reasons to work for us: Fantastic team of highly experienced (Best in Class) developers and designers, using latest technologies, expanding company offering great career progression, sociable / fun working environment (Work hard, play hard ethos), get involved in loads of charity work, a real meritocracy - you will be rewarded for good work. Also you will get plenty of opportunities to broaden your skills base with training days given etc! Please apply today to be considered for this great JavaScript UI / Web Application Developer role! JavaScript UI / Web application software developer- jQuery, JavaScript, CSS, XML, HTML
Optimised advert
Job Title: Front End Javascript Developer (Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery) Salary: £60,000-£75,000 per annum Location: London, UK The Skills required for the Front End Javascript Developer (Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery): • Excellent and proven experience with hand-coded Javascript, HTML, CSS2, HTML 5, CSS3 • Excellent knowledge of jQuery libraries • Angular experience Description for the Front End Javascript Developer (Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery): Rapidly growing software house which use the latest technology stack and work with a wide range of exciting technologies seek a UI developer to join a rapidly growing engineering function, which use the latest methods (TDD, BDD, Kanban, Continuous Integration, Scrum etc) and offer lots of scope to learn new technologies, work on a wide variety of challenging and ground-breaking projects. The Front End Javascript Developer (Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery) role will involve implementation of UI components to required standard, working with design team to translate the user experience and design elements into web application components. You will develop highly performant web interfaces using reusable component designs where appropriate and liaise with QA to support testing and resolve issues identified by them. Reasons to work for us: Fantastic team of highly experienced (Best in Class) developers and designers, using latest technologies, expanding company offering great career progression, sociable / fun working environment (Work hard, play hard ethos), get involved in loads of charity work, a real meritocracy - you will be rewarded for good work. Also you will get plenty of opportunities to broaden your skills base with training days given etc! Benefits: • Salary for this Front End Javascript / UI developer role will pay between £60,000 and £75,000 depending on your experience with a bonus (10-20%), • Health- and Life insurance, • Training, • Pension Scheme Keywords: Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery, test, support, developer To apply for the Front End Javascript Developer (Javascript, UI, CSS, Jquery) role, please click the “Apply now” button.
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