Top 7 Mistakes Hiring Managers Make When Advertising Open Positions

Top 7 Mistakes Hiring Managers Make When Advertising Open Positions

There are plenty of reasons why a particular recruitment ad does not work well. Sometimes these mistakes are tough to recognize and even harder to learn to avoid. Here are seven reasons that can make an ad not be effective:

1. Poorly written ad copy. We have previously issued an article on writing an effective ad. In summary - grab the job seekers attention, give a little history, give enough details about the position to make it clear what the candidate will be doing, keep ‘requirements’ brief, outline what makes this position / company special, make sure that your ad is ‘keyword rich’, and make it easy to apply. View the full article here.
2. Putting all your eggs into one basket. Why would you? Monster & CareerBuilder are both great sites, but neither is the end-all, be-all for all positions. Too often companies pick one board and that is all they use…regardless of the position. Bad idea, for many reasons. Often times the position would receive a much better, more qualified response on a niche board. OR the position is such that they could have spent a lot less money on a regional board and gotten an equally good response.
3. Not tracking ROI. What is working? What is not? You do not need the latest ATS to track where responses are coming from. A simple job code, unique to each position AND advertising medium, will allow you to track the source.
4. Reactive, vs Proactive recruitment. Waiting for an employee to quit is the worst time to start a plan. Developing a comprehensive recruitment strategy BEFORE the need is urgent is the best way to effectively source and evaluate various avenues.
5. Know your target audience. Where are they looking for jobs…or ARE they even looking for jobs. This is an important question to evaluate what site / paper makes the most sense, as well as to decide whether a particular campaign should be focused on active, or passive job seekers.
6. Not using the selected medium properly. Job boards actually want you to get a hire and to be happy with responses. They want your money and they want you to use them. The major sites are constantly offering new products or enhancements to better get you applicants. This presents a problem as you need to know how they work to work them effectively. For example, on CareerBuilder you are allowed up to three job classifications. If three are relevant, use them. Hotjobs uses a “short description” field that, when used properly, greatly enhances the search results placement of a posting, getting it in front of more eyes. Monster now offers Auto-Refresh postings to better increase the number of folks that will see an ad.
7. “Set it and Forget it” Attitude. If you are dealing with an online posting, you have the ability to evaluate the early applications and massage the verbiage in the ad to better attract qualified candidates moving forward. Don’t wait until the posting has expired and then say “that didn’t work”. Figure out why something is not working early on in the process and adjust the position copy to address the initial shortfalls.
   
   

Ten Things Every Recruiting Professional Should Know About Millennials

We see a lot of information on both sides of the employment aisle and thought it might be fun to compile some of it on various market and employee segments into top ten lists. The newest employee group, the "Millennials", just entering the job market seemed like a great place to start since their interests and work style are still becoming known.

This first list targets key job, career and personal issues relating to finding, hiring and retaining this new talent group as they enter the workplace.

Postbetter feedback based on client hiring experiences provides the basis for the report.

Julie Mattson and Jackie Nerhus of Katun Corporation in Minneapolis have this to offer: "Millennials are very engaged in their job and in the community, they like to have a voice in how things are done and look forward to giving and receiving frequent feedback."

Glen Gardner of The Vortechs Group, a tech recruiting company in Cincinnati, talks about connectivity: "To find top performers I look for people who blog, who have a website, who publish on others blogs, participate in usergroups and use open source code."

Herewith:
Ten things every recruiting professional should know about Millennials

1. Millennials are sociable and team oriented. They enjoy working in teams and like being friends with coworkers. They expect diversity in the workplace and seek a fair and evenhanded management. If you assign goals to their work teams and then evaluate them as a group they can produce amazing results. You might even consider the benefits of designing workplaces to accommodate idea sharing, teamwork and social interaction among coworkers.
2. Millennials are connected. More than any previous generation the computer, cell phones and electronics connect them, and they use'em. They use connectedness to share and interact with friends, with their network, AND to do business. This is a plus to employers who understand it. When Millennials have a challenge they often go out to their group in developing the solution, this is not a distraction, but is normal to them in getting work done. A quick text to a co-worker may be faster than a phone call or a desk visit. Previous generations had to struggle getting timely information - Millennials get it right now - and move on with their day.
3. They work hard, play hard. They have always filled their lives with multiple activities - playing sports, helping causes and communities, being active with friends and family. They work hard and are fully engaged in their work, but they get work done during the workday and try to keep a life-work balance. They seek employers who value this balance and who provide shared values, company events and hierarchies that support these priorities.
4. They are confident. Millennials have a confidence that has come from positive reinforcement all their lives. They know they can do the work, why couldn't they. If they need to find out something they go to their network of friends, coworkers, managers, even parents and get help knowing that together they can figure it all out. They know they can do the work, they expect to work hard, but they also expect to be rewarded and seek employers who share those values.
5. They have a voice. Millennials grew up being told they were special, having a voice in events that affect them, and expecting to be heard. Unlike previous generations that neatly fit into the existing status quo they will express their opinion and are unapologetic about it. Getting and giving feedback is a very good thing. The more often the better. Millennials react very positively to a steady flow of "how ya doing" dialog and have plenty to offer in return.
6. They do technology. With all the tools available to them - Facebook, MySpace, ipods, PDAs, phones, computers, etc., Millennials are tech oriented and seriously networked. They stay in touch daily, even hourly, connecting with friends, co-workers, classmates, and other professionals, even parents (who still play a big part of their lives). While this may seem a distraction to older workers Millennials draw on their network and technology in everyday tasks and activities seeing it as an extension of who they are. If you want to be innovative consider setting up a reverse mentoring program whereby Millennials tutor older workers to use technology.
7. They multi-task. The phone, multiple text messaging, a meeting, emails, an ipod and maybe a couple of other activities - all at once. These are multi-taskers like you can't believe. They are used to it. Like it. And they get their work done by 5 and go home, or on to other activities. It's how they work. If it ever slows down they will suffer acute boredom. Give them short term and long term goals, a team to interact with and (chuckle) get out of the way.
8. They are loyal. To family and friends, to personal interests, to jobs that don't bore and are rewarding. Keeping them engaged and challenged is the key to retaining them for very long. The things they look for in choosing an employer - fairness, challenging work, feedback and open dialog, workteams, live-work culture, community citizenship - are also the things that will keep them from straying. Provide those values and Millennials are productive happy workers. Try to shoehorn them into one of the more dictatorial regimes and they will use their connectedness, flood the market with resumes and be gone before you can figure out where to send the 401k forms.
9. They're involved. A high rate of Millennials volunteer their time on community projects. They have grown up thinking about the greater good and now as adults they act on it. They expect companies to have community involvement and to be involved themselves. Further, they expect companies to operate in ways that create a sustainable environment.
10. They want to develop their careers. Millennials aren't typically impressed with overblown mission statements - they expect a workplace that is challenging, fun, creative and rewarding both financially and careerwise. They want assignments on projects they can learn from. They want leadership to be genuine and caring, yet demanding and mentoring. Successful managers will offer a career path with growth opportunities and give lots of feedback as they progress. They have been told they are special, they believe it, and given the opportunity they will prove its true.

PostBetter Launches Next Generation Website

Exciting Stuff Going On! Sent out our first press release today:
___________________________________________________________

PostBetter, Inc., a provider of advertising job board and job post specialist services today announced the launch of its next generation website featuring an expanded level of service, talent and resources for Human Resource professionals nationwide. Offering valuable recruiting market information and copywriting services information the site also enables client ad "comp" previews.

Additionally PostBetter has added professional recruitment advertising experts to help keep ad posting copy turnaround times to the minimum and to better serve an expanding market. Prospective clients may ask to "Try a better posting" free and see in advance how the service would work with their company branding and ad copy needs.

"We provide hiring managers and recruitment professionals free ad copywriting and post ads at no additional cost to all the major job boards, specialist job boards and newspapers," said Tom Torresson, PostBetter CEO. "These new resources and staff will help us more effectively plan, produce and place ads for a growing list of clients."

PostBetter leverages years of data gathered from employers, employees and HR professionals to provide key recruitment services:

• Increase retention rates by attracting the right job candidates the first time.
• Branding client’s recruitment job postings in the job board environment.
• Help make the work of the hiring manager more efficient.
• Save recruitment cost on employment advertising and job postings while increasing ROI.

________________________

PostBetter Inc. is recruitment advertising and marketing agency that writes, designs, and posts employment (help wanted) ads to internet online job boards and newspapers. The privately help company is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information please visit online at www.PostBetter.com.

An Effective Online Job Ad – Part II

We have always been advocates of the use of graphics, fonts and other tricks to differentiate a job posting from the rest. Hiring managers often complain that they receive resumes from a posting, but not the right resumes. Usually the issue falls back on the problem that it is easier for a job seeker to apply to an ad than it is for them to read the ad and actually decide they are a good fit for a position.

From the March 16, 2006 Interbiznet Bugler “Realize first that you have less than 2 seconds to capture the mind’s eye of your ad reader. The first quarter- to-half-second, the human eye scans colors and shapes and in the next 1.5 seconds drinks the bold type and entire first line. A headline with five words or less is where the viewer decides whether to continue or move on. If your job headline does not lead to a benefit or take longer than 3 seconds to “show the money” in your digital ad; guess what? You lose. The vast majority scan a job posts headline and pick up only the bold or italicized copy and dollar signs. Less than 17% of online job seekers read word-by-word. Your ad does not mention specific money or benefits? You lose a great number of your qualified readers in the blink of an eye.”

A well branded, compelling ad that is aesthetically different than most of the other postings on a site grabs that reader’s attention and they are much more likely to stop, read and think. That’s half the battle.

Why Job Boards Get a Bad Rap

I was speaking yesterday with some folks at a local Employers Association. While discussing the ‘right’ way to advertise jobs online I was told a story about one of their members about why job boards aren’t effective.

This employer (a large florist) was hiring for a mechanic to service their fleet of delivery trucks. They put a posting up on some of the major (national) boards and waited for the resumes. After the postings had expired they complained that while they did get some mechanic resumes the vast majority of what they received were for “floral arrangement designers”.

Is this the fault of the boards or the industry? Of course not. But it is stories like this that give job boards a negative image.

There are two main causes of results like this.

On the candidate side, many job seekers will take a ‘shotgun’ approach to what positions they apply to. They feel that it can be more effective to apply to hundreds of postings and hope that they stick somewhere, rather than taking the requisite time to actually read and research a position before applying. One trick of the trade to combat this practice is to BRAND your posting…and have it different from the rest. The more unique the ad copy and presentation, the more likely it will be to capture a candidates attention to the point where they read it.

On the Hiring Manager side, be proactive. Most listings stay live on sites for 30 days. Why wait until that time is over to complain about what type of person you found? As soon as you notice a pattern of non-qualified applicants you need to change something. In the case of our floral friends, it may have been as simple as adding a sentence before the application instructions: “We are not accepting resumes for floral designers. Qualified mechanics are encouraged to apply to:”

Review the posting. Rather than look at it while you are logged into a site as an employer, look at it as if you were a job seeker. Why are they applying? It may be as simple as a common mistake employers make when posting. Too often when a Biotechnology company is advertising for an accountant, they will list BIOTECH as the category…when, obviously, ACCOUNTING is where the job should be. If they are requiring accounting experience with a Life Science company, use both categories.

In the case of our Mechanic example, the job was not listed in the correct area.

When in doubt, get help and seek advice. Call your ad agency, ask a colleague, or call the job board….but don’t just sit back and complain that a job board didn’t work.

How to Have Your Job Posting “Rise Above the Noise”

When an employer posts a position, there are two main issues that the posting needs to address. The first problem is that you want to have job seekers read / review the listing. The second, equally important issue is that you want the right candidates to apply for the position. Again – “right” being qualified applicants that fit your criteria and will be a good fit for your company.

How to get job seeker traffic to your posting:

There are many tools that can/should be used to drive candidates to your posting.

For starters, you need to ensure that you are posting on the right job board in the correct job category. The first thing the job seeker sees is the job title. Make it descriptive. “Software Engineer” is good. “Software Engineer to write SQL code for new web site” is better. Again – almost anything that is unique is going to help drive traffic to the posting.

Make sure you utilize the particular site’s capabilities to the fullest. If you have the ability to refresh the posting date without getting charged, do so every few days to keep it fresh and at the top of all search results.

Once you get people to the posting, use everything and everything at your disposal to ensure you are branded as an Employer of Choice. Use html, graphics, images, links, different fonts / colors.

In terms of making sure the right folks are applying? The more concise and aesthetically pleasing a job description is to read, the more likely a job seeker will actually read it. If there is a deal-breaking qualification you require, bold it. Make it stand out. Remember that you can edit the posting to tweak the type of folks you are getting. You can start out by saying “Requires BA/BS in Computer Science with 5+ years SQL programming experience”. If that doesn’t get you the right people, try bolding “Requires BA/BS in Computer Science with 5+ years SQL programming experience”. As a last resort, go with “Requires BA/BS in Computer Science. Candidates without 5+ years SQL programming experience NEED NOT APPLY!”

The key is to NOT post it and forget it.

How to Choose Where To Post Your Job Ad

“What job board should I use?” The simple answer is to just to remember to ask yourself this question before you post any position. Too often employers fall back on what they know and what they are comfortable with. Back in the day that was the traditional ad in the Sunday paper. Now that the ‘classified section’ is no longer the end-all-be-all, don’t allow any one site to become your only source. No site, despite what they tell you, works for everything.

Every type of job board has its place. In general, there are four options to advertise your position. National boards, Regional General boards, Industry/Trade Specific boards, and non-employment sites that offer career sections as ancillary content.

Factors that should affect your decision:

1. The position. You should advertise for a seasoned, high-end professional in a much different manner than you would for a lower-level position.
2. Your budget. Assuming you can afford $500 for a campaign, a good approach is to target a national site, regional site, and industry site.
3. Your timing. How quickly do you need this filled? If you proactive you can take a more conservative approach and test the waters on fewer boards.
4. Are you going after active or passive job seekers? (Falls back on the position and the likelihood of qualified candidates finding your job on a board)
5. What’s worked in the past? If you are doing it right, you’ve been tracking what sites have been working best for you, by position. Over time, you’ll see that every site produces different results for different positions.

If you are Life Science Company looking to add 50 employees in the next six months, unless they are all the same position, you should not run out and buy a 50-pack on xyzjobs.com and call it a day. Putting all your eggs in one basket DOES has advantages…can save you time, money, and headaches – but making your life a little easier isn’t the point. What will REALLY make your life easier is accomplishing what you set out to do - which is to attract the best candidate for the right position. Sorry folks, that tends to involve a little more effort.

In the next coming weeks I will be spotlighting advantages / disadvantages of each of the board options.

Writing an Effective / Compelling Online Help Wanted Ad

The most common mistake that Employers make when posting a job ad online is forgetting the medium. A big advantage of online job boards is that they allow unlimited ad text in most cases. In other words, you’ll pay the same $475 on Monster.com for a 200 word ad as you would for a 2000 word ad. That is not to say that you need to go hog wild on content because it’s free (after all you want the job seeker to actually read what you have posted). It is to say, however, that there are some key points to include to make the ad work…and work well.

• Grab the job seekers attention. If you have a headline / slogan you can use, put it at the top of the listing…especially if it is relevant to the position.
• Give a little history. Summarize what it is your company does and what make is unique.
• Give enough details about the position to make it clear what the candidate will be doing.
• Keep ‘requirements’ brief…only listing the most important qualifications. Also, remember your audience…if you are hiring a Sales Manager with 12+ years’ industry experience, it’s safe to assume that they have computer skills….no need to list that in the ad.
• Outline what makes this position / company special. What are you going to offer the employee in terms of compensation or benefits? What is the culture / environment of this company? What’s in it for them?
• Make sure that your ad is ‘keyword rich’. Most job board search engines will search content, as well as titles / job categories. The more relevant keywords that your ad contains means better positioning in candidate search results.
• Make it easy to apply. If you want the candidate to apply directly into your applicant tracking system, have a direct link into your ATS system (As opposed to having them go to you site to find the career page).

In order for an ad to be effective, you need to do more than copy and paste a posting from your internal site. It does take a little effort to do it properly, but the results are well worth it.

Build It...They Will Come.

Maybe...but the question is really who are 'they'.

In the world of recruitment advertising the 'they' is the golden ticket. It’s what all the time, energy, and expense is geared towards attracting.

In a perfect world, ‘they’ are the audience that you (the hiring manager) are trying to attract. QUALIFIED applicants that would be a good fit for your company and who are QUALIFIED to perform the role for which you are advertising.

This begins a 3 part series on how to do it. Really, how to do it effectively.

Factors that affect the Field of Dreams?

(1) Effective ad copy
(2) Advertising on the best job board
(3) Having your posting ‘rise above the noise’

After all….which would you rather have? 100 resumes….or 6 really good resumes?

Exactly. Quality, not quantity.

What's in a Name?

"Selling Religion"

When I first conceived the idea of starting a company to help employers post their positions on the web, I struggled with the idea of do I want to take the risk…or play it safe and get a job.

On the surface, it was a no brainer. The perfect business model. I can cull from my decade+ experience and expertise and assist employers with all phases of the online recruitment process. The sweet idea was that there would be no cost for using my services….as I would make my money strictly off the industry-standard commission of 15% from the job boards. No brainer. Employer gets better posting, hence better candidate, for the same of less than they are paying now.

What I found was a bit of a surprise. Hiring Managers have always been a target for cold callers. As such, they are inherently wary of folks calling them and telling them they can get a better product for nothing. Enter religion.

I have built my pulpit and donned the robes. There is a better mousetrap.

Your job is managing people, not job boards.

With 40,000 active job boards on the web, finding the most effective sites, creating the most effective ad copy, and managing posts in the most effective way demands a great deal of time – time you don't have. What you need is an affordable out-of-house solution.

You need Post Better – a recruitment advertising company specializing in Internet job postings for companies across all industries.

From writing ad copy designed to attract your ideal candidate to strategically posting on niche employment boards, we do our job so that you can do yours.