If you’ve been following along on this journey for ‘How to Hire,’ it’s time to optimize the skills you’ve learned for the absolute best hiring results. If you haven’t been along for the ride, visit our blog to ensure you’ve taken all the right steps for making your recruitment process as efficient as possible.
Hiring can be an incredibly expensive undertaking for any business, which is why hiring efficiently is critical. The key isn’t in how fast you bring in new team members, however, it’s also in hiring the right candidates for your business. When we say efficiency and perfection, we mean the right candidates within the right time frame.
There are two critical areas that should be mastered to achieve hiring optimization — How you write your job postings and where you post them. Let’s dive in to what you need to do.
Writing Job Postings
More often than not, the first time a potential employee becomes aware of your business is through your job posting. That’s a lot of pressure for making an exceptional first impression and really roping in top talent. This is where businesses tend to screw things up. They put the spotlight on what makes their company great, using ‘we’ sentences and trying to talk up the company values and mission. Potential hires will want to know about the business, but that isn’t where you start. Here are a few tips for how to kick off your job postings:
- Write job postings from a “what’s in it for them” point of view.
- Use ‘you’ statements instead of ‘we’ statements.
- Focus on the core aspects that make the job and company different — no 35 point bullet lists.
When you write a job posting, you want to focus on the outcomes a potential hire will be delivering. The job posting isn’t about you or what you want, it’s about them. Here’s an example. Rather than saying, “We need someone who writes lines of code,” try something like:
“Are you someone who wants the opportunity to re-engineer an entire platform and bring it up to standard with new technology? We’d love to speak with you.”
This phrasing re-contextualizes the job into what the candidate can get out of it, and how they’ll be able to deliver.
Once you’ve set the hook by letting candidates know what’s in it for them, then you can establish your company values and mission. If you’re still struggling with what to include in your job posting, head on over to this blog post about the top three components of a magnetic job posting.
Posting Job Postings
When you’ve finished crafting your perfect job posting, you need to make sure it isn’t just seen, but seen by the correct audience. For that, you have to answer the question: Where do I post and on what channels?
Here’s a rule of thumb:
- Sales — LinkedIn
- Niche Engineers — Specific Reddit threads or public Discord channels
- Geographical Limitations — Public community groups
Remember, you have to know who your ideal candidates are and where they live, work, and play. When you have a physical office, you are restricted to a geographical area, but can still capitalize on social media. You also get the advantage of using public areas where your candidates, their friends, and their family can see your job posting. If it’s magnetic enough, they’ll think of that dream candidate and send the opportunity along.
Ideal hires could also be participating in specific events, such as conferences, certification programs, and other learning opportunities. You don’t have to attend everything in person. Sponsor an event to gain access to email lists or get involved with a parent organization that does training the specific skill set you’re looking to add to your organization.
When it comes to posting your job, the most crucial step is this: Show up and be a part of your ideal hire’s community. Showing up also means not skimping on you, yourself, showing your company values, thoughts and views on your own channels. The best hires are going to look up your organization, its leadership, and its employees. Be proud of your company and post often so they can see you’re worth working for — Consider it part of your employer branding.
Bonus: Leveraging Your Employer Brand
The key to hiring is truly understanding who your ideal candidate is and knowing what you, as a brand, have to offer. When you get your posting in front of the right audience, you’re well on your way to making the perfect hire — but there’s something else you can leverage: Your employer brand. When you know your candidate, you know what they want out of their employer. Ensure that is incorporated into your job postings and use that candidate knowledge to place them on the right platforms for maximum visibility. Not sure what candidates are after? Check out these 2023 employer brand trends. If you aren’t leveraging your employer brand effectively, you’ll be missing out on an exceptional swathe of potential hires with all the skills you’re seeking for your organization.
Stuck on Where to Begin?
Overhauling your hiring practices and establishing new processes to ensure you’ve optimized everything can take time and energy. It’s a tough ask when you’re also trying to run and grow your business! We’re experts in helping businesses of all sizes understand how to hire, who they want to hire, and then making it happen as efficiently and effectively as possible. Just being here and reading our blog is a great first step. If you’re looking for a bit more help or don’t have the capacity to do it on your own, we’d be happy to help. Reach out to us today to get started.
