What goes into making a perfect job ad? That’s what an article at SHRM.org talks about this week. At least one company, Appcast, says that their data shows a 90-97% abandonment rate on most job portal sites. That’s a huge abandonment rate! And one of the big reasons for it are poorly-crafted job postings.
The key things for any job posting are to be clear, concise, and consistent, according to research done by Appcast. Job seekers want to know clear basics about the job like compensation, work/life balance, and benefits, not just talk about perks and how great the culture is. Instead, show the culture through the job posting rather than telling about it, and don’t hide the necessary details job seekers need to evaluate between different positions.
The optimum length for a job posting is around 500-600 words. This gives around a 12-15% click-to-apply rate. Posts that are too long (over 1000 words) or too short (under 200) are far less effective. Job seekers also want clear job titles. Repackaging job titles under fancy terms just leads to confusion.
Finally, make the call to action very clear, and make it obvious how the next steps will work. Give them at most two ways to reply to the ad, and tell them what the next steps are, who they will hear from, and when they can expect a response back.
Are your job ads not getting the response you’d like to have? Let NetPEO help you with your HR tasks. Read through our website for more information or give our offices a call.