HOW TO MAKE YOUR JOB DESCRIPTIONS STAND OUT

Job seekers will spend an average of 11 hours a week looking for a new job. That’s a lot of time spent reading job descriptions, and eventually, the endless lists of preferred qualifications and responsibilities start to look the same. 

We ask a lot of our job candidates during the application process. Just to get an interview, applicants need to submit a resume that caters to the open listing; personalize a cover letter; provide references; and more. However, many companies don’t go the distance to give their job descriptions the same level of attention they ask of a job seeker. 

More importantly, formulaic job descriptions can cause companies to miss out on top talent. Conversion rates on career sites are down: of those who visit a company’s site, fewer than 9% apply for an open position. Job descriptions just aren’t getting candidates excited about the opportunities that are available out there. In a competitive job market where unemployment is at a low 3.9%, making your job descriptions stand out is more important than ever. Here are some of the ways a recruiter make their job descriptions stand out.

Focus on the big picture

It’s important for millennial workers to feel like their work is contributing to something bigger. The next generation of workers seeks opportunities that allow them to grow, contribute meaningfully to an organization, and feel like management decisions are transparent and inclusive. Recruiters can tap into this desire by linking job descriptions to overall organizational goals. Keep the listed job functions limited to five to seven bullets and spend more time describing how the position can contribute to key business objectives. Sentences like “Be a part of the marketing team that works toward X% growth this year” or “Help us as we roll out X new products by the end of 2019” can spur goal-minded candidates to submit their resume.

Use video, graphics, and other visuals

Some companies try to stand out by using job titles like “ninja” or “rockstar”. Not only does this sound cliche and inauthentic, but it doesn’t make a job opening easily searchable. Stick to straightforward language and lean on visuals or video to provide the brand identity you’re looking for. Video can be a great way to show the culture of your company without sounding lame or inauthentic. A great example of this is Twitter’s very tongue-in-cheek employer branding video from 2013.

Other ways to spice up your job description is to have an employee testimonial from someone who’s been in the position before; an infographic laying out the key qualifications and requirements; or even just some pictures to break up the text a little.

Give them a reason to apply

Remember: candidates are scrolling through dozens of job descriptions each day in search of a new job. Salary and benefits are the top two factors a candidate considers before accepting a job offer. So, be transparent in your job description about what those specific perks are.

What are the benefits that come with being an employee at your company? These can be as simple as the chance summer Friday afternoons off or a great work culture. Don’t feel as if you have to compete with the Googles and the Facebooks that offer free breakfast and video games. Opportunities for advancement or to learn a new skill can be the thing that sets you apart from other companies. Do a little recruitment marketing and boost your brand by showing off what awaits if someone applies for the position.

Get rid of buzzwords

One of the reasons why all job descriptions blur together is that they all sound the same. Recruiters in every industry love using terms like “enthusiastic and motivated” and “willingness to learn.” Buzzwords are brutal and can turn away candidates who are looking for a forward-thinking, innovative company. Often, buzzwords are inadvertently used as a crutch to avoid explaining the real requirements of the position. Does “enthusiasm” really refer to someone who vocalizes support and positive feedback to their team, or is it someone who isn’t afraid to meet deadlines and works diligently? Most recruiters or hiring managers wait until the interview process to vet candidates with their specific brand of enthusiasm, but with a better job description, this process can be streamlined.

Don’t go crazy on the requirements

Purple unicorns don’t exist. Neither do regular colored unicorns. Unicorns aren’t real, period. Many recruiters write job descriptions that simply aren’t realistic. That laundry list of unrealistic expectations could be hurting your recruitment efforts more than you realize. Research shows that women are unlikely to apply for a position unless they meet 100% of the requirements. If you’re hoping to be more inclusive in your hiring this year, scale back the qualifications in your job description to those which are absolute requirements. The “nice-to-have” skills should be left out – otherwise, you could be scaring away perfectly well-qualified candidates who are intimidated by the description.

Write for inclusivity and diversity

Speaking of hiring inclusively, the way you write your job description could be unwittingly sending the wrong message to a potential candidate. Of course, you want to include language or images that showcase your company culture; however, don’t try to write in a way that attracts “people like us.” Ensure your descriptions are free from gender bias using tools like The Gender Decoder, which tells you whether your description is feminine-coded (written with more of a leaning towards a female candidate), masculine-coded (written with more of a leaning towards a male candidate) or neutral (no leaning). Using more neutral wording can help open up your candidate pool by 42% and improve your application rates dramatically.

This article by Emily Heaslip originally appeared on Vervoe.com

AGILE GROWTH: EMPLOYEES VS. FREELANCERS

If you want to grow your business, you will undoubtedly face the following dilemma: should I hire someone or use a freelancer? For a start-up with scarce resources making the right choice can be the difference between gaining traction and wasting valuable, and finite, time and money.

The case for using freelancers usually sounds something like this: “Need new talent, but don’t have the resources or desire to take on a full-time employee?” … and that’s a great reason by the way.

Other good reasons for using freelancers include value for money, needing specialist skills and surge capacity for an ad hoc project. Some of the arguments against are quality control and the time it takes to get a freelancer up to speed.

There are some great articles about the main pros and cons of using freelancers. But there is no point telling you what you already know or can easily find out with a quick Google search. Instead, we wanted to share some of the lessons we have learnt through our own experience at vervoe.com, as well as the feedback our clients have shared with us. Employees versus freelancers: Which is best for you?

Here are some of the less obvious, but equally important, considerations when trying to decide between making a permanent hire and engaging a freelancer.

Retained Knowledge

Even if a freelancer does a great job, at the end of the assignment she is gone. She won’t call you next week with another idea or come back to fix something that was overlooked, at least not for free. While you will benefit from the outcome, you are unlikely to be privy to all of her thinking and preparation. So, it’s worth considering whether the task you are outsourcing is isolated or will have an ongoing impact on your business.

For example, it might make sense to outsource the task of sharing content on your preferred social media channels and even creating some of that content. But preparing your content marketing strategy requires buy-in from the founders or management because it involves deep product and market knowledge and a strong understanding of your company’s objectives. It is also a document you will likely want to revise over time so you need to understand it intimately.

Occasionally you may find an absolute gun who will only work freelance and it’s clear that she will provide greater value than an equivalent employee. Don’t dismiss working with her on strategic tasks just because she is a freelancer.

But structure the arrangement with two things in mind. First, be heavily involved in the thinking process rather than just waiting for the outcome and ask for all the draft materials. This may cost more but it will be well worth it. Second, try to retain her services on a long-term basis and treat her like she is part of the team. This will hold you in good stead.

Product Knowledge
The biggest cost associated with using any freelancer is the time it takes her to understand your product and market positioning. Therefore, your return is likely to increase over time and the first engagement is usually the riskiest for your company.

Really good freelancers will do their homework and tell you upfront what they require in order to make the assignment successful. They may ask to interview your customers. They may go through every page of your website. They may look at all your competitors. They will most certainly consult with their network. Good freelancers “get it” quickly because they prepare.

Unfortunately, only a very small minority do this. Most freelancers learn about your product and industry on your time and at your cost. Sometimes that is unavoidable. If you are paying someone under $100 you can’t expect them to dedicate hours to gaining a strategic understanding of your business. It’s simply not worth it.

The arrangement needs to be mutually rewarding. If you need a short video, a few lines of quick copy or an icon or two then a site like Fiverr makes sense. But if you need something impactful and you want a freelancer who will understand your business then prepare to pay more or make a permanent hire.

Motivation
When people do work for your company, how invested do you want them to be? A freelancer, even one with amazing dedication, is committed to a specific task rather than your entire business. She is unlikely to be as incentivized as your staff. Having said that, it’s all a matter of degrees. Your staff will not be as incentivized as people who have equity in your company and certainly not as incentivized as the founders. So is the answer to only hire employees and give them all equity?

That’s certainly one model but it’s not necessarily the right one and it assumes that financial gain is the main source of motivation. Your team members, from the founders to the freelancers, are likely to be motivated by a range of factors, including intellectual stimulation, learning new skills, working with like-minded people, building something exciting, doing a great job and of course having fun. And obviously money.

If your number one criterion is having people who are heavily invested in your business then hire them permanently, give them equity and lock them up. But that comes at a huge cost, especially for early-stage start-ups. And it’s not always necessary to get great results. The right freelancer can add enormous value and there are no guarantees your employees will always deliver.

Access to Elite Skills

One of the biggest advantages of using a freelancer is gaining access to someone you can’t hire. It’s not just the individual. It’s the level of seniority, the experience, the contacts and perhaps even the location. It might be the money or maybe your company hasn’t yet got enough runs on the board to attract elite talent. For whatever reason, you are not in a position to hire someone at that level.

But by using a freelancer you can get access to super talent and immediately inject value into your business. There are some amazing operatives in the market and under the right circumstances they can help you grow your business. When you find them don’t let go, freelancer or not.

First, think about the skills your founding team already has. Then figure out what you are missing. Keep in mind that “missing” in this context doesn’t mean the things you prefer not to do. It needs to be something that is genuinely critical to your success and you can’t do yourself. Something that you wish one of the founders could do. When this happens, you are in need of an expert.

Finding the right one isn’t easy and trawling through the freelancer sites is not likely to yield results. There are two good ways to find a true expert you can rely on. The first, and most likely safest way, is a referral. Contact a friend or someone from your network who has been in a similar situation and ask for a reference. Reach out to people in your network with the expertise you need and ask them for advice.

This article is by Omer Molad, co-founder and CEO of Vervoe.