While every position requires different experiences, strengths and skills, there are certain employee qualities that are beneficial to any professional. When writing your resume or speaking to a potential employer, highlighting these qualities and giving examples of how they have benefited you in the workplace will give you a leg up on the competition. Additionally if you are a hiring manager, keep in mind these qualities to look for when hiring an employee.
1. Initiative
Taking initiative outside the set responsibilities of a position is an ideal quality to have as an employee. When hiring, employers want someone who can confidently complete their assignments, but they also want someone who will go above and beyond the call of duty.
2. Prioritizing
Being able to prioritize your responsibilities is another quality that makes good employees stand out in the workplace. An employer wants someone who can not only balance his or her many responsibilities, but also be able to recognize which ones are most important or time sensitive.
3. Communication
Strong communication skills will help you no matter what job you are applying for. Being able to speak professionally, clearly, and politely will take you far as a professional. Also, having good writing skills is equally important. Clear communication of ideas and the ability to give instructions are some great qualities to look for when hiring employees and to have highlighted when constructing a resume.
4. Reliability
A potential employer wants to know that he or she can count on you to be there when they need you. An ideal employee quality is punctuality and having a solid attendance record. When an employer needs extra help, a reliable employee will step in and pick up the slack without waiting for instruction.
Highlighting these four key qualities on a resume or in an interview will definitely benefit you in your job search.
If you need help hiring or looking for work, reach out to our recruiting team at Whitman Associates to get started with us today!
If you are actively interviewing for jobs, part of the process is being prepared for remote interviews as well as in-person interviews. With online interviews being commonplace since 2020, there is no longer an excuse for not knowing how various web conferencing platforms work. It is your responsibility to be able to utilize the client’s chosen app for an online interview and have it functional ahead of time. The company you’re applying to most likely has a specific one they use for all their internal and external collaboration.
There are lots of different applications for online interviews; some major ones include Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, Cisco WebEx, and Skype. You do not need to create an account for each of these apps as you will receive an invite provided by the company holding the interview.
Whitman Associates will assist any of our candidates with a trial run of the client’s application platform so that you may prepare the collaboration tools in advance. We want our candidates to focus on the interview when the time comes and not be frustrated by the tools. There are a myriad of video chat interview tips that exist online on preparing for phone and remote interviews, but here are some key points:
Choose the right environment for your remote interview
Your background on an online interview is important. Bright lights from windows behind you can cause video of your face to be dark. You certainly don’t want the background to showcase clutter, or personal spaces such as your bed or bathroom. It is best to sit in front of a blank wall or wall with minimal graphic distractions. You don’t need a fancy ring light, but you may need to turn on a light somewhere else in the room to insure your face is well lit.
The audio is critically important. Many people will tolerate bad video to a certain extent, but clipping audio and background noises make it impossible for you to convey important responses. You need to make sure the environment is free from background noises (mowers, air conditioners, bathroom showers, construction, etc.). Find a quiet room where the background noise is minimal. Having background noises will distract from your responses does not make a good impression.
Pick the best device for an online interview
The device you use for your online interview is very important. It is best to use a device with all the tools integrated such as a laptop, tablet, or phone. If you are using a desktop, you need to make sure all the external components work well together and within the application you are going to be using. A critical video chat interview tip to keep in mind is that your device may need to download a plugin or grant permissions to the application in order to interact with the microphone, video, and speakers.
The integrated microphone of a laptop, tablet, or phone may be sufficient; however, it is best to use a Bluetooth or wired headset. This will allow your voice to be clear, enable your hands to be free, and allow the camera to be placed at a distance from your face.
It is important to set the phone, tablet, or laptop down on a fixed surface such that it is not moving. It is incredibly distracting during remote interviews for the camera to be wobbling and not stationary while you’re trying to explain how you can contribute to the success of the organization.
If you need reference material (your resume, notes, or the company’s website), make sure this material is positioned directly above or below the camera. The client is interested in making eye contact and trying to get to know you as much as they can via video interview.
When taking notes, place your notepad directly below the camera so that the client can see that you are writing information down. It’s best to avoid typing your notes during your interview as the keyboard noise can be distracting and may lead the interviewer to think you’re doing something other than listening to their pitch – they are trying to convey how great their company is.
Be prepared!
There are many guides available describing how to prepare for an interview. A phone call, video chat, or remote interview is just as important as an in-person interview. In fact, it is more difficult to convey body language and capture voice inflections that might indicate your excitement for working with the company. Your goal is to make the next step or interview happen and to get that job offer.
While every interview situation is different, we have created an ultimate interview prep guide to help you learn how to prep for an interview and will increase your chances of impressing the hiring manager and successfully landing a job offer.
One of the first interview tips is to always arrive on time. Plan to arrive ten minutes early for your interview. Potential employers will assume you have bad time management skills if you are late for a scheduled interview. This is almost more important with video interviews. If you have no commute or traffic, being late is inexcusable. Don’t forget to test out a video link prior to your interview, so there won’t be any technical difficulties to hold you up.
Talk positively about your former employer. Talking positively about a former employer will show loyalty and respect, which are both traits employers look for in potential candidates. If you didn’t have the best experience at your previous job, a good way to interview prep is to talk about the positive aspects, and frame any downsides in a respectful manner.
Another way to nail your interview prep is not to forget to bring a few copies of your resume with you. Even if you are not asked to bring a resume with you, you should always have a few copies on hand just in case you need them. If you are on a video interview, be sure to have your most up to date resume ready to share via email.
In interviews, you should avoid oversharing personal information. While it’s important to share your work experience and skills in detail, you should avoid talking too much about your personal life and opinions.
Another first interview tip is to get your interviewer’s contact information so you can follow-up. It’s always a good idea to follow-up after an interview with a note thanking them for their time and consideration. Be sure to get the hiring manager’s business card, LinkedIn or email.
You should make consistent eye contact with your interviewer. Displaying confident body language and making eye contact will help you further engage with the interviewer.
Avoid wearing a lot of cologne or perfume. As in-person interviews are on the rise again, you don’t want to aggravate your interviewer’s allergies or distract them with an overabundant fragrance.
It’s important to present yourself appropriately. This includes everything from dressing professionally for an interview, to choosing a neutral virtual background and good lighting for a video interview. Being dressed inappropriately or having your background be a distraction is one way to discount yourself from consideration.
Don’t be shy about conveying your interest in the company and position. Although you know you’re interested in the job, you have to convince the hiring manager. Potential employers want to see just how dedicated you are to working for them. Be sure to do your interview prep by researching the company, so that you can speak with confidence.
Avoid chewing gum, snacking, food or other distractions. Chewing gum during an interview is rude, and it can be distracting.
Our last piece of advice on how to prep for an interview is to remember to turn off your cell phone. You don’t want your phone ringing in the middle of an interview, so make sure you turn it off before the interview begins. Even silenced cell phones can vibrate or make noise, so turn your cell all the way off to avoid any unwanted distractions.
While hiring and recruitment have always been an evolving landscape, since 2020, the changes have been far more extreme and frequent. As companies and employees adjust to pandemic life, HR teams will continue to see a shift in the way they recruit, interview, and hire. With 2022 here, the team at Whitman Associates, Inc. has explored what your company should know about new hiring trends in the coming year. Check out this overview of the top seven trends your HR team should be ready to accommodate.
1. Economy Growth with a Constrained Labor Force
Economies are growing, but they’re facing the biggest labor shortage seen in decades. Despite inflation and rising costs of living, wages and working conditions aren’t always following suit. Some companies are working to correct this with higher salaries for all positions, but others are choosing a different path. One hiring trend includes companies relaxing their hiring criteria in an effort to attract more potential employees. Still, other companies are focusing on improving benefits with better perks, like student loan debt assistance, higher-quality health insurance, and additional paid time off.
2. Hybrid Work Environments
Most offices transitioned to a work-from-home model in 2020, but even with decreasing COVID cases, many have opted to continue operating remotely or adopt a hybrid approach. Some businesses are even using work-from-home as an additional incentive for potential employees! Many employees prefer working from home or a hybrid environment because it cuts their commute, reduces stress, helps them focus, and provides more flexibility to meet the demands of their job.
Most interviewees are now expecting their preferences for the ideal office environment to become a regular part of the interview and hiring process. Hiring trends indicate the need to accommodate these preferences and provide better remote learning and working tools to ensure your workforce is happy, productive, and collaborative.
3. On-the-Job Training
This used to be a regular hiring trend in the pre-80s era, but at some point, employers started requiring new hires to already possess all the business-critical knowledge for their position. Because of the labor shortage and the need to hire less experienced employees, many businesses are reviving on-the-job training to ensure they can reskill and deploy workers across multiple teams and roles. Some companies prefer outsourcing the education of their employees, encouraging workers to find programs to enhance their education. Once employees find and apply for a specific program, employers may pay for all or some of it.
Those employers working internally to reskill their employees may have to face a few challenges, including deciding which skills are critical for team members to know, developing learning platforms and training modules for each skillset, and integrating new technologies to streamline the learning experience.
4. Internal Talent Marketplace
There is a current recruitment trend to promote from within the organization. So knowing which of your current employees are looking for a career change or wanting to transition to a different department is critical! Create a talent marketplace on an internal platform to ensure that everyone is notified when new opportunities open up within the company. You won’t have to worry about vetting external candidates when you’re choosing from a pool of employees that have already proven their reliability and performance.
In the past, these career development hiring trends used to be standard, but many organizations have let these types of programs lapse due to a number of reasons, including lack of technology to update the database efficiently, an influx of top-quality external candidates, or minimal upward mobility within the work hierarchy.
5. Focus on the Employee Experience
The employee experience is a common term in corporate America that refers to keeping employees engaged and motivated, especially during challenging times. You don’t want essential people leaving because they feel they aren’t being treated fairly! Listening to your employees, identifying problems, and analyzing solutions is the first step towards ensuring you have a quality team that wants to stay put.
Don’t let frequent employee turnover become your next hiring trend! Instead, focus on ensuring your current employees are satisfied with their experience.
6. Refreshing Pay & Bonuses
Employers often try to cut costs by providing employees minimal pay raises and bonuses, but studies show that replacing disgruntled employees is actually more expensive than negotiating with your current team to reach a pay raise solution! Equitable and fair pay are among the most important hiring trends of 2022, and job seekers are more willing than ever to walk away from a position they don’t believe pays fairly. Even current employees are leaving long-held positions when they don’t get the recognition and reward they think they deserve!
If your company wants to win the war for talent, you must focus on fair wages as a recruitment and reward strategy. This hiring trend isn’t affecting the corporate world alone — people in retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and more are all realizing that better wages are far more attractive than an endless list of benefits like gym memberships, ping pong tables, and weekly catered lunches.
7. Revamping HR Technology
Companies that have an internal HR team are finding that their old platforms just can’t keep up with modern recruiting and hiring processes. Your team has to stay up to date with what’s new in hiring trends — from technology to appropriate offers — to ensure they can outperform competitors who are hiring from the same pool. Some HR teams find it easy to rise to the challenge, but more and more companies are relying on staffing agencies to fill in the gaps.
What Changes Will You Be Making?
Are these current recruitment and hiring trends inspiring you to make changes in the way your HR team operates? Whitman Associates, Inc. can help you even more with hands-on support. Get in touch with us if you need assistance with temporary placement, permanent employees, and more!
There are many changes on the horizon for the working world. With COVID forcing offices to transition to work-from-home and the discussion of a great resignation as burnt-out employees seek a better work-life balance, employers are scrambling to figure out how to keep their employees on board. One solution to your struggles could be temp work. Whether you’re an employer who’s struggling to find good help or an employee who wants to explore unique work opportunities, there are many benefits to temporary employment that could be the key to finding what you need.
Are you considering temporary employment as a business or as an individual? Learn more about the benefits of temporary work for you when you read this overview from the experts at Whitman Associates, Inc.
Temporary Employment Benefits for Job Seekers
Temping offers employees unique benefits that long-term positions often don’t. Temporary employment through a reputable staffing agency can help job seekers secure flexible, well-paying positions that provide predictable work opportunities without a long-term commitment. Depending on the candidate’s situation and circumstances, temping can provide a variety of perks, including the following.
Explore Different Careers
Whether you’re new to the workforce or considering a career change, one of the benefits of temporary employment is the chance to learn about a variety of careers and industries before you make a commitment to a long-term placement. For example, you can spend a few months in corporate accounting before exploring what it’s like to be a legal assistant in civil rights law. You might be surprised to discover which careers and positions you enjoy the most!
Gain Experience
Another benefit of temporary work is that it allows you to gain experience in a variety of industries — or even one industry — without being stuck in any particular position. As you move from job to job, you’ll learn many diverse skills that will make you more attractive to employers in the future.
Find New Opportunities
Even if you prefer temporary work, you never know when an opportunity will turn out to be the perfect fit. Whether it’s a permanent role or getting your foot in the door of an industry that you weren’t initially qualified for, temp work can broaden your horizons.
Build a Network
Many people live by the mantra, “It’s not what you know, but rather who you know.” Temporary work can provide you access to a continuous flow of professionals which you can use to build up your personal and professional network.
Earn Money on the Side
The last benefit of temporary employment for job seekers is that it allows you to continue earning money as you search for the perfect placement. There are no strings attached with temporary work, so you can job hunt guilt-free. Even better, temporary employment can act as a stepping stone, helping you build your resume, gain experience, and meet new people.
Benefits of Temporary Employment for Employers
There are just as many benefits of temporary work for employers as there are for employees. Sometimes, you just need someone to fill in the gap while a current employee is on family leave. Other times, you’re testing the waters to see how a newly created position may interact with your current workflow. There are plenty of reasons to choose temporary employment for your business!
Preview Employee Potential
You’re not sure which type of person would be the best fit for a particular role, so you want to have a few trial runs before extending an offer. One benefit of temporary employment for business owners is a preview of the employee’s work quality, productivity, and teamwork. You don’t have to worry about hiring someone full-time, only to let them go when you realize they’re not suitable for your company.
Fill in the Gaps
Many people cite work-life balance as their reason to stay or leave a particular company. To ensure your employees feel like they can live their lives fully, you need to be able to cover for them when they take time off for family leave, vacations, or other extended sabbaticals. For employees whose work simply cannot wait, a temporary replacement allows your company to keep up its operations with minimal interruptions.
Wait for the Right Fit
Some positions require a very specific type of personality or skill set. If you’re struggling to find the perfect person for a particular position, a temp provides your HR team with the breathing room they need to ensure they’re hiring the right person. Instead of rushing and compromising to fill a position with a substandard candidate, this benefit of temporary employment allows your company the opportunity to take a little extra time exploring your options for a permanent hire. And who knows, maybe your temporary employee will turn out to be the perfect fit!
Find Seasonal Workers
Whether you need to hire additional people during peak season each year or you need an extra set of hands for special projects, temporary hires ensure you have a contract in place for just as long as it’s needed. Specific contract lengths for the short or long term are a major benefit of temporary work for employers.
Finding What You Need With Whitman
These are just a few of the benefits of temporary employment for both employers and job seekers. As the professional work landscape continues to evolve, we’re here to ensure you find what you need to fit your life, career, and business growth. From non-profit staffing to career advice for professionals, we do it all!
Reach out to our expert team today to discuss open positions, contracts, and more!
When you have good employees, you want to keep them motivated to continue working hard and going above and beyond your expectations. Still, you also want to make sure that they stay with your company instead of seeking a different position. If you’re looking for ways to ensure your employees view you as an attractive employer, Whitman Associates, Inc. recommends focusing on innovative employee retention strategies. Explore our top methodologies to improve retention and employee satisfaction.
1. Support Your Employees in All Areas of Their Lives
Work-life balance is becoming much more than just a meaningless buzzword that’s meant to make employees think that you care. In today’s work environment, it’s an innovative employee retention strategy to deliver on the promise of respecting an employee’s home life, mental health and responsibilities outside of work. Part of providing the balance your employees desire is supporting them in all areas of their lives.
Because many employers have transitioned to a remote office environment, the boundaries between work and home are muddier than ever. Make sure your employees feel like you understand their needs outside of the job, including childcare, mental health days, boundaries outside of work hours and financial support to improve wifi connections and home office requirements. Employees that feel that employers take their work-life balance into consideration are more loyal, perform better and stay longer than employees that feel unsupported.
2. Provide Attractive Career Paths
You want to improve retention, and employees want to grow their careers. Instead of letting them stagnate in a particular role, make sure you have measurable and variegated career paths that help all your employees grow. This is one of a few innovative employee retention strategies that may require a shift in the structure of your promotion process. Develop a realistic framework that helps employees in every situation thrive. Whether they’re working from home, transitioning to part-time work because of other life responsibilities or looking to fast-track their career, you need to create opportunities for everyone to grow at their own pace.
3. Adopting Flexibility
Workplace flexibility is quickly being adopted into the mainstream due to Covid. More people are working from home than ever! But, it might also be time to adopt schedule flexibility. Variable shifts and optional weekend work to cover days off during the week can help employees be more focused when they’re on the job because they’re not worried about conflicting schedules and responsibilities in their personal lives. Even more important are remote employees in different states and countries than your home office.
Split shifts and flexible scheduling are innovative employee retention strategies that could be the difference between being able to work part-time, full time or not at all! Some parents may appreciate being able to work around their kids’ schedules, and employees in a different time zone will probably be happier not having to work through the night just so their schedules align with local employees. Giving your employees more options is what really improves retention and ensures employee happiness.
4. Offer Meaningful Growth Opportunities
When asked why they left a particular position, the most common answer from employees is that they weren’t offered a clear path for career progression. From on-the-job training for higher positions and mentorships to leadership development seminars, your employees should be able to find everything they need to succeed within the company.
And, once an employee has grown beyond their position, reward them with a promotion and a raise. Going outside the company to fill leadership positions reduces morale and makes employees feel like they’ll never get anywhere within your company. Instead, promote from within and watch as this innovative employee retention strategy increases morale and confidence in your current employees.
5. Respect Your Employees’ Viewpoints
Creating an inclusive workplace culture where your employees feel heard is an important and innovative employee retention strategy. Regardless of your own personal beliefs, create space for employees to feel safe expressing themselves in ways that are healthy, respectful and mindful of coworkers. You should also keep this in mind if you’re in charge of monitoring your company’s social media presence. Stay neutral around targeted or controversial issues, and keep your personal opinions separate from the workplace dialogue so you don’t inadvertently ostracize or offend any of your employees.
What’s Your Strategy?
Do any of these innovative employee retention strategies sound like they would help you with your retention goals? If you’re not sure what would work best for your employees, you can also conduct a survey to ask what they want. Learn more about how to keep your employees happy, focused and working hard when you talk to them about their needs and deliver on their requests.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the work environment has changed. Many employers are finding that allowing employees to work from home has many benefits. Whether it increases employee productivity or saves them money on overhead and other in-office resources, employers may want to continue hiring remote employees.
If you’re an employer that’s just starting to explore the remote hiring process, you may need to change the way you normally look for candidates. At Whitman Associates, Inc., we can help you explore new hiring strategies that work best for remote job seekers. Check out what our staffing agency has to say about hiring remote employees.
1. Budget & Resources
From job boards and advertising to candidate assessment and external recruiting agencies, there are a number of costs associated with the remote hiring process. Make sure you’re setting an appropriate budget that takes your online needs into account. You may no longer have an office space where you can host interviews, so you should consider shared rental workspaces, offsetting phone interview-related costs and better internet connections for staff hosting video interviews.
2. Who Is Your Ideal Candidate?
While identifying your ideal candidate is an important strategy for all employers, operating in a digital space means you need to be even more specific about your candidate qualification requirements. Hiring remote employees means you may never meet a job seeker in person. How do you make up for the lack of in-person interaction to assess a candidate’s energy, personality and personability?
Make sure your job listing and application include formal qualifications, hard and soft skills, job-specific training requirements and information requests for prior work experience.
3. Niche Job Promotion
You want to attract quality candidates to apply for your job. While you can post on your social media platforms and on your website, you should also be using niche job promotion platforms to find job seekers who actually qualify for the position. Whether you use LinkedIn, Indeed or a staffing agency, make sure you’re filtering your job postings with as many specifics as possible.
4. Make Technology Work for You
Hiring remote employees means you’re already recruiting, assessing and interviewing online. Make every part of the hiring process more effective and efficient when you utilize all the available technology. Conduct virtual interviews, use learning management platforms for candidate screenings and streamline your entire process so that you can focus on better-quality candidates.
We Can Help
If hiring remote employees seems like a tough job, that’s because it is! At Whitman Associates, Inc., we can help you with any part of the recruiting process to ease the burden on your HR department and help you transition to a fully remote hiring operation.
Reach out to us today to learn more about what we can do for your company!
With so many job seekers flooding the job market today, employers are seeking assistance from staffing agencies to help them sort through the market and fill open positions. When you apply for a job online, chances are you are responding to a posting from a staffing agency or a recruiter. When using a staffing agency during your job hunt, you need to know what to say when calling a temp agency and how to treat the person on the other end of the line. Considering questions to ask a staffing agency beforehand can be the difference between an impressive interview and a misfire.
Because the market is so flooded with job seekers, employers are choosing to use staffing agencies to hire more temporary or temp-to-hire employees than to hire permanent employees directly. While staffing agencies can operate similarly to a typical human resources department, they specialize in finding the right person for the right job – and weeding through all the wrong resumes. Make sure you have what it takes to impress a staffing agency with these temp agency tips from the experts!
1. Speak with Respect
If you’re wondering what to say when calling a temp agency, you should let respect be your guide. Job seekers tend to believe that since they are not speaking directly with a hiring manager from the company they want to work for, they don’t need to turn their A-game on for their contact at a staffing agency. Yet staffing agency interview questions can make up the bulk of interviewing experiences.
A recruiter at a staffing agency serves as the initial screener for an open position. If you want to be considered for a job with their client, strive to impress the recruiter. When coming up with questions to ask a staffing agency, feel free to ask for clarity on any parts of the process you may be uncertain about. Make sure you speak professionally, honestly and politely with any representative you encounter from a staffing agency. Treat them as you would any other hiring manager in a job interview. If you can’t impress the recruiter, you’ll never even get the chance to turn your charm on for the hiring manager.
2. Follow Instructions
Hundreds of people can apply to the same job posting on a daily basis, so staffing agencies typically try to screen candidates before even viewing their resumes. For example, a job posting might say that all interested candidates need to include a cover letter or a salary requirement with their resume. If you don’t include the requested paperwork or information, you could be immediately disqualified without your resume even being viewed.
Whether you receive a response to your resume requesting more information or a recruiter asks you to call them at a certain time, the best temp agency tips dictate that you do your best to follow all the instructions you receive. Staffing agencies usually won’t waste their time talking to someone about a position if they have already proved they cannot follow basic instructions. If you are choosing questions to ask a staffing agency, make sure not to ask for information that they have already provided in their instructions.
3. Be Enthusiastic
Our next temp agency tip is to be enthusiastic. If you receive a call from a staffing agency and you are interested in the position they have, show them! Staffing agencies won’t want to send a candidate on a job interview with their client if they don’t sound enthused about the position. Some staffing agency interview questions are tailored to gauge the enthusiasm of potential applicants for positions.
While you don’t want to be overly eager, what you say when calling a temp agency lets them know whether you want a position. Enthusiasm shows you are willing to commit to the interview process and would accept an offer if you received one.
It’s also important to be honest with a recruiter if you aren’t interested in a position. They won’t want you to feign enthusiasm only to turn down an offer at the last minute. Consider what questions to ask a staffing agency to help you know if an offer or organization would be a fit for your circumstances. Be straightforward with the staffing agency about exactly what you want and need in a position. The more honest you are with them, the more they will be able to help you.
Be on Your Best Behavior
If you do end up temping with a staffing agency while you wait for a full-time position, treat each temp assignment as you would a permanent position. A positive attitude and taking initiative go a long way towards impressing the employer you’re working for. You could potentially be considered for a full-time position should one become available.
Even if this temp assignment doesn’t help you gain a full-time position, you might do well enough on the job to impress the agency that placed you. As a result, they’ll want to continue working with you and place you in more assignments. The staffing agency will be more inclined to consider you for any permanent opportunities they have, as well.
On the other hand, if you treat a temp assignment as just a way to make money and have no respect for the client or the agency you’re working for, they will be less inclined to work with you in the future. Take that opportunity to formulate questions to ask as you deepen your relationship with the staffing agency with which you are currently employed.
Making the Most of Staffing Agencies
Staffing agencies aren’t just a great tool for employers; they also help job seekers with successful employment. You can explore temp agency tips, guides and tons of advice to help you find and keep a job. Make sure you are taking full advantage of an agency’s services because they could be the key to helping you find your dream job.
Is it once again time to write a job description for a recently vacated or created position in your organization? Regardless, you may be exploring ways to maximize your job posting to attract the most-qualified candidate as effectively and quickly as possible.
By blending the facts you know about the position with some new strategies for conveying that information to awaiting candidates, you can certainly streamline the job description writing process.
First, Determine What You Want Your Job Posting to Accomplish
Following are five key points that you want your job post to accomplish, regardless of the nature of the position:
It sells the position and your organization by sharing key information about both.
It provides a list of technical requirements, soft skills and personality traits candidates need to prove they obtain.
It homes in on candidates who will quickly adjust to their position and corporate culture by providing details about their respective nature. For example, more introverted job candidates may skip applying for the position if they see your company prides itself on its highly interactive culture.
It is friendly and welcoming to anyone considering the role, whether a particular ad reader is ultimately the right candidate or not.
It offers clear instructions on how and where to apply, along with the application deadline.
4 Steps to Writing an Effective Job Description
Review these four tips to see if they might help you enhance, debug or fully revamp your job description writing process to get the results you want:
Define and summarize the position. In this step, you will gather the most vital information about the position. Set up a meeting with the department manager, requesting that he or she provides as much overarching information about the job as possible, as well as five or six day-to-day functions of the role. Here, you have the chance to paint a vivid portrait of the position for prospective candidates.
List and clarify all experience and qualifications needed. It is important to let candidates know your requirements for a position early in the description, so they can either move on to the next posting or settle in to learn more about your organization and the job. List necessary qualifications — which may include the level of education completed, previous experience in the field, required certifications obtained and maintained, computer languages, data entry proficiency, writing and editing, and anything else crucial to performing the position and adding value to your business.
Provide a detailed list of responsibilities and duties. Expanding on the overview of daily functions you provided in the summary, give potential candidates a more precise idea of what the job entails. For example, let candidates know whether their job is more teamwork-focused, or if they will regularly work independently. Additionally, let readers know how their position works within the larger framework of their department and the organization. This context informs prospects of the value that your organization places on their responsibilities.
Use bullet points, numerical lists and strategic keywords for easy eye-scanning. Just like you end up reviewing multiple resumes and applications, your potential candidates spend countless hours reading through job boards, social media posts and employment forums. Putting the same volume of information into a tidy list is easier on the eyes for you and candidates. Also, make sure to use keywords germane to the position and the prospective candidates’ possible qualifications. For example, if you are a recruiter with an accounting firm and need a new accounting professional, season your job description with keywords such as “CPA”, “financial professional”, “certified public accountant” and “auditor”.
Would you like additional tips to tackle a particularly tricky job description in your queue? No matter what you need, our recruiting team at Whitman Associates features nearly five decades of collective recruiting success to help streamline your process and connect you with well-suited candidates.
Take the next step by calling (202) 659-2111 or filling out our staffing request form.
