In a tight job market, companies are revamping how they write job descriptions, adding a greater level of detail and tweaking language to entice a broader range of applicants, including more women.
Some companies now outline specific salary ranges, as The Wall Street Journal reports, and describe what a week in the role is likely to include. A number explain the downsides of a job, such as required on-call hours or a high volume of emails. Employers such as online travel company Expedia Group Inc. and networking-equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc. also use software to adjust the wording of postings to attract a diverse mix of candidates.
The efforts reflect widespread frustration with job postings from both applicants and employers, recruiting experts say. Vague postings can attract applicants who may not be a fit for a role, overwhelming hiring managers. Bland listings often omit information that could help a candidate make sense of a company’s culture and decide whether to apply or opt out.
Even small tweaks to language in job postings can determine who applies for them, companies have found. Phrases such as “digital native” and a “passion for social media” in job postings can discourage older applicants from applying, according to a white paper released earlier this year by the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals.
But what makes writing job postings difficult is that language is ever-evolvingsays Kieran Snyder, CEO of Textio, a company whose software analyzes job postings and recruiting emails to make recommendations to improve them. A few years ago, Textio found the most effective job ads had an even split between language describing the company and outlining a candidate’s qualifications. Read the full story.
