Creating the Perfect Job Title
Picture the scene…you have a new and exciting job opportunity opening that offers excellent support for a fresh employee. You are registered as a client with a job board, such as CV-Library. You post your new exciting vacancy on CV-Library’s site, used by over 6 million candidates. You are anticipating the influx of candidate applications, eager for consideration in your company…
But no applications come through.
If this is a familiar sounding tale to you, you may want to pay more attention to your job advertisement. The job title is the most important part of the job; this is what will initially catch the job seeker’s eye and encourage them to view the whole job description. While a job title can interest and appeal, it can just as easily confuse or repel candidates. There are number of reasons why this can happen:
Abbreviations
In most industries there are certain technical terms and commonly used phrases that everyone abbreviates. However, this doesn’t mean that candidates looking for work will understand these. Where possible, lengthen titles within your job description to help explain the role for those who are not used to your company’s internal speech. Also, you want your job title to include phrases that candidates will search for; try to avoid abbreviations in job titles. Abbreviations that are not common knowledge will prevent your job advertisement from placing well in searches, no matter how relevant the keywords used are.
Vague title with no specific industry
Some job titles can be very vague. One example of this is the title “Sales Representative”. Whilst it is a common position, the role can vary greatly depending on the product or service being sold. By mentioning the area of sales involved, such as “Automobile Sales Representative”, the candidates are given a greater understanding of the products being promoted, and get a better feel as to how well suited they are to the role.
Qualification needed
If a specific qualification is required for the successful candidate, make this clear in the job title. For example, “AAT Qualified Junior Accountant” would help attract individuals with the correct qualifications. Similarly, if you are looking for candidates who have recently graduated, make this clear by stating “Graduate Junior Accountant”. Including these requirements will give the advertisement more chance of being looked at by suitable candidates, particularly because they may type “graduate” as one of their keywords. If they do not, it will still catch their attention when skimming through multiple roles.
Fake job titles
To make jobs sound more appealing, employers will often “dress up” the job title, for example, renaming a Call Centre Manager “Chief Chatter”. As fun as this may seem, candidates looking for the job will most probably not understand what the actual position is, and will disregard the job in favour of more recognisable titles. In addition, there is less chance of the job ranking high in candidate searches because the title will have little in common with the keyword search. Aim for a simple, to the point title and use the description for promoting the job.
Following these points correctly should increase the number of suitable applicants you receive for your advertised positions on CV-Library. It is important to keep the job title understandable and avoid unusual abbreviations or made up terms. Where possible, specify qualifications and/or the industry to avoid vagueness. It is useful to bear in mind what phrases candidates will be searching for. Remember, if you’re already a client of CV-Library and you want more advice on your specific job title or any other job related matter, call your allocated Client Response Co-ordinator who will be happy to work with you and create the perfect job advertisement. If you haven’t posted your jobs on CV-Library before you can find out more here.
But no applications come through.
If this is a familiar sounding tale to you, you may want to pay more attention to your job advertisement. The job title is the most important part of the job; this is what will initially catch the job seeker’s eye and encourage them to view the whole job description. While a job title can interest and appeal, it can just as easily confuse or repel candidates. There are number of reasons why this can happen:
Abbreviations
In most industries there are certain technical terms and commonly used phrases that everyone abbreviates. However, this doesn’t mean that candidates looking for work will understand these. Where possible, lengthen titles within your job description to help explain the role for those who are not used to your company’s internal speech. Also, you want your job title to include phrases that candidates will search for; try to avoid abbreviations in job titles. Abbreviations that are not common knowledge will prevent your job advertisement from placing well in searches, no matter how relevant the keywords used are.
Vague title with no specific industry
Some job titles can be very vague. One example of this is the title “Sales Representative”. Whilst it is a common position, the role can vary greatly depending on the product or service being sold. By mentioning the area of sales involved, such as “Automobile Sales Representative”, the candidates are given a greater understanding of the products being promoted, and get a better feel as to how well suited they are to the role.
Qualification needed
If a specific qualification is required for the successful candidate, make this clear in the job title. For example, “AAT Qualified Junior Accountant” would help attract individuals with the correct qualifications. Similarly, if you are looking for candidates who have recently graduated, make this clear by stating “Graduate Junior Accountant”. Including these requirements will give the advertisement more chance of being looked at by suitable candidates, particularly because they may type “graduate” as one of their keywords. If they do not, it will still catch their attention when skimming through multiple roles.
Fake job titles
To make jobs sound more appealing, employers will often “dress up” the job title, for example, renaming a Call Centre Manager “Chief Chatter”. As fun as this may seem, candidates looking for the job will most probably not understand what the actual position is, and will disregard the job in favour of more recognisable titles. In addition, there is less chance of the job ranking high in candidate searches because the title will have little in common with the keyword search. Aim for a simple, to the point title and use the description for promoting the job.
Following these points correctly should increase the number of suitable applicants you receive for your advertised positions on CV-Library. It is important to keep the job title understandable and avoid unusual abbreviations or made up terms. Where possible, specify qualifications and/or the industry to avoid vagueness. It is useful to bear in mind what phrases candidates will be searching for. Remember, if you’re already a client of CV-Library and you want more advice on your specific job title or any other job related matter, call your allocated Client Response Co-ordinator who will be happy to work with you and create the perfect job advertisement. If you haven’t posted your jobs on CV-Library before you can find out more here.
Great article! A recruiter should be aware before posting out-of-box creative title. Time,money and most importantly creativity can go down the drain if job seeker wont be able to click on your ad.
ReplyDelete