As a recruiter, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations with both hiring managers and prospective candidates who have voiced their frustrations with being unable to effectively execute job searches successfully in a short time frame.
Candidates express that they apply to vague job postings (usually half a page in length) and often times find themselves confused on what an ideal hire would look like.
Ironically, I’ve also had some interesting conversations with hiring managers, who tell me that they are disappointed that they aren’t receiving enough “qualified applicants” via their job boards as they had anticipated.
I found this storyline rather puzzling considering that in addition to my normal day of seeking out passive/talented candidates I also come across active candidates who regularly apply via online job boards and who have impressive career experiences, technical proficiencies, and education.
So what could be potentially causing this hiring conundrum?
After perusing the Wall Street Journal, the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting article providing some insight into what is potentially causing this problem and a possible solution.
Companies are now taking an unconventional approach of replacing their traditional job postings that are often times ambiguous and purposefully omitting relevant information with postings that are 3-4 pages long! These postings contain a treasure trove of details regarding salary ranges, project examples that the individual would be managing, challenging aspects of the job, what a typical work week would look like, expected work hours and more. The article also highlighted that the most effective job ads had an even split between language describing the company and outlining a candidate’s qualifications.
And guess what….with this new strategy, companies are drawing more qualified candidates to their open positions who are more willing to accept a job offer. As a result, these employers are able to quickly fill open vacancies within their organizations and have new hires who find themselves thriving from day one because they were able to walk into the position with both eyes wide open and know right away what is expected of them to be successful.
In my opinion, hiring companies should be spending more time and resources selling themselves to prospective candidates. In addition, they should also provide honest commentary regarding the difficulties of the position and highlight that this job might not be for everyone.
Hiring managers, what do you have to lose? I encourage you to test this approach when drafting your next job posting…..see if your next 3-4 page job posting garners more qualified candidates in your intake queue.
Check out this detailed job posting from workplace software maker Basecamp for an example…trust me they make for an interesting read.
Candidates and hiring managers, what are your thoughts on the matter? Could longer in-depth detailed job postings really be the answer to quicker successful job placements?
Resources: WSJ – Employers Try New Language to Lure Job Seekers, By Chip Cutter
