5 HireVeterans Tips on How to Attract Applicants to your Job Post
Applicant hunting can also be a difficult process like job hunting. The burden of hiring an employee for an open and sometimes critical position rests on the shoulders of recruiters. HireVeterans already offers an easy way to hire people (with military background) through our Job Board.
However, posting a job advertisement is not enough. Applicants won’t instantly pour in once you have advertised your vacancies. There are more secrets to uncover in order to successfully get applications and eventually hire your next staff member.
In this article, we have summarized 5 Tips which we think can boost your chances in getting more candidates to apply to your job post on our board, or on any other job board for that matter.
TIP # 1. PROPERLY DEFINE THE JOB THAT YOU’RE LOOKING TO FILL
Example of what to avoid:
Job Title - Sales Representative
Job Description - Sell company products and services to customers
As a recruiter, you should always think from the perspective of your applicant. If you were the applicant, would you be interested in the position posted above? I bet not.
The sample job post lacks:
- The type of Sales Representative the recruiter is looking to fill.
Are you looking for a Food and Beverage Sales Representative?
Or are you perhaps looking for a Real Estate Representative?
- Information about the “products and services” that the applicant will sell.
Will the candidate sell IT services?
Will the candidate sell cars or car insurances?
- Details on required experiences for the Sales Rep position.
Do you require someone with X number of years in sales experience? Or will you hire an Entry Level applicant?
Does this job require a Security Clearance?
Must the applicant have a background on a certain industry or education to be effective in this Sales position?
- Skill sets needed for the job.
What are the hard and soft skills that you require for the job?
Qualities like Team Player and Go-Getter and/or skills such as Excellence in Rapport Building and Communication are some of the information that you might want to add to your job post.
- Information on specific tasks the potential candidate will be working on.
Will this be an in-person sales position? Or will the selling be done over the phone?
Apart from the selling bit, will you require the candidate to write reports?
A job post should give a job seeker a clear idea of the position that they are about to enter into. As concisely as you can, make sure you identify all the personal and professional qualifications that you require for the position.
Give your applicants the chance to analyze whether they are the right person for the job or not. Your job posting goal should be to have an applicant think to himself/herself before leaving your job page: “Am I fit for this job?”
TIP # 2. INDICATE THE SALARY AND MENTION ALL RELEVANT BENEFITS
If you ask a job seeker what he/she is looking for in a job, the most common and usually the first answer is: SALARY. Let’s face it: money always matters in any job opportunity. Majority of candidates prefer to know beforehand if the position that they are applying for can meet their financial needs. According to a 2019 Global Talent Trend Survey by LinkedIn, it is usually a source of devastation and bad brand reputation for companies if they only come to offer or divulge the salary information at the end of the recruitment process.
If you are hesitant to disclose the exact salary offer, you can identify it in the job post as a salary range: in hourly, monthly and/or annual scales. This will not only attract applicants to your post but can also cut the salary negotiations between candidates and recruiters.
Subsequently, company benefits also matter to candidates. Money is not the only answer to a job seeker’s needs. Recruiters tend to leave out this piece of information when they are advertising open positions. Sometimes, health, wellness, and leisure benefits can also make or break a candidate’s decision on whether he/she should take on the job or not.
Applicants are not mind readers. Majority of them will not have the time nor access to research a company’s benefits. As a recruiter, make sure you include this information in your job post. Your second goal is to have the applicant ask himself/herself: “How can this job benefit me?”
TIP # 3. SIMPLIFY THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
One of the challenges identified by job seekers in the recruitment process is that applications can be tedious. Some job posts involve an application process outside of the job board. Usually, recruiters post a “Click this link to apply” or “Apply Now” options that take applicants to new sites where they will start the application process again. Most job seekers find this redundant and can take their interest away from wanting to apply for the job.
HireVeterans already offers a job platform where you can easily and safely review, filter and hire candidates. If possible, do not take the recruitment process elsewhere. It can be advantageous on your end if you directly entertain applications within the job board where the candidate found your advertisement. This gives the latter only one platform to check as opposed to checking their application status on another site and/or through a separate email communication. This will not only streamline the process but also allows you to keep the applicant’s enthusiasm towards your vacancy.
Your third goal is to have your candidates ask: “Is this application process worth my job seeking time?”
TIP # 4. WORD YOUR POST ACCORDING TO YOUR TARGET CANDIDATES
The digital world is plagued by “filters,” “keywords,” “hashtags,” and “trends” that help any information seeker refine their search. You will notice in HireVeterans, we have a search box dedicated to find keywords on a job post. HireVeterans understand the power of wordings in a job advertisement. Keywords are the transporters to a job post.
Think about your target candidates and analyze what words they will most likely search for in a job board to find employment opportunities. You should hit those keywords for your job ads to come on top of the search results. Proofread your job post before publishing it. Make sure that your job descriptions contain the right jargon for your target candidates to even ponder: “Is this the job that I’m looking for?”
TIP # 5. BOOST YOUR ADVERTISEMENT
One of the common questions in the recruitment process is to identify “How/Where did you (applicant) see the job post?” Now that you’ve refined the contents of your job opening, your final goal as a recruiter is to put it out into the public for job seekers to see. Here are a few ideas on how you can attract candidates to click on your actual job post:
- Fix your profile and company logo on the job board.
Having a complete and well-written profile with the correct logo on the job board not only bridges the trust between candidates and recruiters but also develops interest in a company’s job offers. When recruiters get a candidate’s trust and interest, job views are sure to follow.
- You can opt to post it as a FEATURED JOB.
As mentioned above, it is not enough to post your job on a website. The key to get applicants is for them to first see your advertisement. How will you do that? You can try to boost your job by selecting a posting service that will place your advertisement on the top pile of the job searches.
At HireVeterans, we offer the FEATURED JOB PACKAGE* where you can select between 1, 5, 10 and 20 feature job packs. Choosing the Feature Option gives you a PRIORITY BOOST in our search index. Whether a job seeker types a keyword in the search box or not, your job opening will be flashed on top of the regular vacancies for better viewing chances.
- Announce the job opening on other channels.
News about your job vacancy won’t spread by itself. You should promote it through your own company’s website and other channels. HireVeterans job board gives you one platform. However, your chances of getting applicants can be boosted further if you also share news about your open positions on other social media sites.
If you avail of our PREMIUM ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP*, we will share your profile and job vacancies on HireVeterans Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sites which have multiple Veteran job seeker followers.
*For more information about our FEATURED JOB and PREMIUM ANNUAL packages, please visit our RATES page.
