23 Mar
65% of employers revise job descriptions after posting them. To find out why Indeed surveyed 250 employers and more than 2,000 job seekers about what they're looking for when reading a job posting. Your job description might be scaring off the best applicants. Here's how to fix that.
Among employers surveyed, 75% stated that they were deterred from applying by a job's required skills, qualifications, or experience. While you may think it's obvious to a candidate that a specific degree is required for a job, keep in mind that candidates are bombarded with job postings on a daily basis and may not be paying close enough attention to your requirements.
To ensure that you're catching the attention of the best applicants, consider highlighting any special requirements in the job description's first paragraph. Also, consider using a bulleted list to highlight required skills and qualifications instead of just stating them.
Code words are a simple way to gauge the level of interest that a candidate has in the position. By requiring a code word within the application, you'll weed out candidates that aren't serious about the position. For example, rather than asking candidates to write a description of why they are the perfect person for the job, ask them to write a description of the best job they've ever had.
According to the Indeed survey, 28% of surveyed employers said a long time between applying and receiving a response to their application is a turn-off if you have a long time between when a job is posted, and when you start receiving applications, you might want to consider moving up the deadline for applying.
In the Indeed survey, 53% of employers said video applications made them more likely to hire. Adding a video to your job posting is a great way to attract a diverse pool of applicants.
When applying for a job, job seekers often turn to an employer's website to get a sense of the company culture. Employers surveyed stated that they use their company website as a means to attract potential employees and better understand their company culture. Therefore, it's important that the company culture is well-represented on the job post.
If you're looking to attract younger candidates, use more conversational language in your postings. For example, consider including a few action words like "leverage," "motivate," or "influence," which may have a stronger impact on a millennial audience than action words like "utilize," "generate," or "execute."
In the end, while there will always be some applicants who are deterred by even the best job descriptions, you can still make improvements to increase the number of applicants who do apply. Improving your job posting can be as simple as including a few changes to the cover letter. We hope your next job posting receives more applicants!
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Kasper is a serial entrepreneur who is on a mission to disrupt technologies and industries. In his spare time, he joins marathons and enjoys adventures in the great outdoors. As the CEO and Founder of Kandio, he is laser-focused on designing user experiences to make hiring a lot easier with Kandio’s growing library of assessment tests.
Kasper Dam