One of the simplest things you can do to improve your online recruiting is get better at writing your job titles. The job title is the first thing a candidate sees while searching for jobs online so it’s your chance to not only make it sound interesting, but to also prequalify the applicant. In an effort to help recruiters become better at recruitment marketing, this post will help you do just that.
Those in marketing circles know the headline is key to grabbing the attention of consumers and optimizing the ad itself. A job title is akin to a headline in any advertisement. Headlines determine whether or not the audience will click or read.
Famous ad man David Ogilvy once said “When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” The same is true for recruitment advertising.
Like headlines in a story, good job titles will capture and intrigue the right candidate and get them to click. They provide the foundation for the success (or failure) of your online recruiting strategy. In short, a good job title will provide better ROI for every dollar spent to promote it.
You can see great job titles on Jobs2Careers every day. Take a look at what I found in a search for security guard jobs.
The “Highest Paid Security Guards in the Industry” really caught my eye. If I was looking for a guard job you can bet that I’ll be clicking on that listing!
Obviously not every company can afford to make that kind of promise but you can still make it interesting. In that same search result I saw one titled as “Bilingual Security Guard” which gave it more context and yet another that mentioned the benefits of the job…”Armed Security Guard – Medical Benefits and Sign-On Bonus”. Both of these are better than most.
I think it’s important to be as specific as possible with your job titles. Terminology like Full-time/Part-time, Weekends only and Night Shift will help prequalify the click before it happens.
Or add the level of the seniority required like “Senior”, “Experienced” or “Entry-level” to target your most likely candidates.
In some cases you may also need to add acronyms or certifications that help with job searches. The healthcare field is full of terms like “PT” for physical therapy or “OT” for occupational therapy. In these cases it’s ok to add extra terms or certifications required to your job title.
Sometimes jobs also come with different ways to describe them. I’m thinking of “Sales Rep” and “Account Executive” which sometimes mean the same thing. “Flight Attendant” jobs can also be found online as “Cabin Crew”. If your role has multiple titles you may want to use all variations when posting online to match job seeker queries.
So start taking a hard look at your job titles. Find ways to make them more interesting and you’ll end up getting more applicants in the process. Good recruitment marketing starts with a headline that will capture the candidate you want.
