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The Key to Writing Captivating Job Descriptions in 2021

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The following transcript was taken from InSights, a staffing and recruiting podcast from Haley Marketing dedicated to providing quick-hitting takeaways on Digital Marketing and Recruitment Marketing. To listen to the episode, click play on the player above or visit the episode page [InSights] New Takes from the Top Shows of 2020

 

Brad Bialy: Matt, the second top segment from 2020, the key to writing captivating job descriptions. This is your world from a recruitment marketing standpoint. You’re constantly looking at what it takes to get jobs clicked. And then once they’re clicked to get applicants to actually apply. And the job description is really the leading reason why people actually apply to that job, right? So why don’t you walk us through what you’re thinking for 2021? How can staffing and recruiting firms write captivating job descriptions?

Matt Lozar: There are two answers to this question. One of them is again, kind of a tried and true principle. And we saw it when the pandemic started. It’s what people are searching for, right? Think of Indeed, ZipRecruiter, if it’s Google, Facebook as a search engine, right? We go to Google to search for answers. We go to Indeed to search for answers for our job search, to ZipRecruiter,[inaudible 00:08:22] et cetera. It’s changed the beginning of the pandemic when searches for work from home remote, increased by 599%, right? Indeed’s data showed us that. That’s obviously not going to be where everybody’s working, but if you’re in more of a direct hire world that could change or what are people searching for? So I think that’s the first place to really focus on, continue to monitor trends on user behavior there.

Matt Lozar: The second one, and this is the easiest answer in the world, pay more. And I know it’s sometimes out of a lot of people’s hands, but an example I literally saw this week was a transportation trucking logistics company we work for in California. They are trying to find truckers, which is about the hardest job right now to find up there with healthcare and some IT. Their jobs, where they had an hourly rate under $25, their cost compared to applications for jobs $25 an hour or higher, right? So that marking point was $25 an hour. We are comparing application costs under $25 an hour, application costs $25 an hour or higher. For the jobs paying more money, their application cost was 34% less, which in their world is a lot because it’s $68 versus $47 in an application.

Is the Challenge Writing Captivating Job Descriptions or is it Having a Competitive Salary?

Matt Lozar: To me, it’s a two-part system. And it’s important because we have to think about how people search for jobs. Okay? Think about how someone goes to Indeed, ZipRecruiter, wherever, right? Choose your job board on how someone searches for a job. They go to the job board, they type in a job and a location, maybe one or the other, right? The next thing that comes up, think about what shows up on their mobile device. Think about what shows up on their desktop screen. It’s the description. It’s the application process if it’s a click apply or not, it’s the salary and it’s one or two bullet points that get someone to click on the job. That’s the first step. If that information isn’t good, we’re moving to the next one on the list. Then the job description is important once someone clicks. So it’s almost a two-part system to where… And think about it, active job seekers a lot of times just want to make more money.

Brad Bialy: Sure.

Matt Lozar: Or something similar.

Brad Bialy: We’ve talked about Brian Fanzo on the show multiple times, iSocialFanz. He has a talk that he delivers that’s called, Think Like a Fan, which is using social media in a way that your fans would want to see different content on. From a sports’ perspective, it makes a ton of sense. What access do fans want? They want behind the scenes. They want that inside scoop. What can you do from a staffing and recruiting firm’s standpoint to think like a fan, right? We almost need to think like an applicant. When we’re posting job descriptions, when we’re listing those jobs, when we’re showcasing the active role that we’re trying to fill, we need to think like an applicant. What description would be captivating to you if you were an applicant? Can you bump that salary a little bit? Can you work with your client to increase that salary as Matt’s saying. Again, think like an applicant. How can you get the perfect and ideal individual to apply for that job? What’s it going to take? And then you go to work.

Matt Lozar: And the job description, which was Brad’s original question and I will eventually answer, it’s what’s important for job seekers right now? It’s safety. It’s probably childcare. It’s about the schedule. If kids aren’t probably going back to school, I would think until the fall 2021, let’s be honest. So for the next five months, school’s a challenge for people because that’s not their childcare anymore. So you really have to think about and answer those questions in the job search of why should I leave my current job? Why should I go to this next assignment to really ease that uncertainty that people have?

Brad Bialy: So Matt, to summarize here, I think you said it best. It’s a partnership between a great salary, a great range of benefits, having a great captivating job description, a great job title. It’s not just the description and we can’t just say you need to improve A and everything else will fall into place. It’s a partnership and a marriage of all of those.

Matt Lozar: That’s exactly right. You have to think about what someone originally has seen, that’s part A, the job title salary, and then part B-

Brad Bialy: Part A.

Matt Lozar: Once they click on it, right? Once they click on that job title and salary, what’s your job description, your job posting or advertisement say to get them to convert?

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