3 Tips to Transparency in Job Postings

By Elizabeth Hilfrank on September 20, 2017

You want the perfect candidate to apply for your open position, but sometimes it is hard to get that ideal candidate to notice you. In today’s digital age, research shows that millennials expect more and more transparency from companies. This is because if you are not transparent, someone else will be for you.

There are so many ways to share company culture now, as nearly every company has its own social media, that you should use it to your advantage for job openings. When hiring, here are three tips for how to appear as transparent as possible for the wishful candidate.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

1. Be human

Especially in the digital era when online job search is becoming the norm, it is important for the candidate to realize that there is a person behind the screen. Make sure to emphasize your work culture in your posting. Write about what current employees are like, give a glimpse into the day-to-day office life, and talk about anything that may make you different from other companies.

Include links to where you may have been listed in employer rankings to really give the candidate a sense of the environment. Within this realm as well, don’t waste space including the common sense characteristics that a candidate should have (think: hardworking, proficient in Excel etc.), but use the bullet points to ask for unique characteristics that help to define your organization. This will help the candidate to decide if he or she would really fit in with the office motif.

The job posting is the direct medium that connects you to the candidate, so make sure the candidate realizes that there is a person in there! Also, use your social media accounts like Instagram or Snapchat to give sneak-peaks into what goes on daily.

2. Be honest

With social media continuously updating the public on everyone’s latest move, whether big or small, it’s hard to hide anything. So, to ensure that you are the first to release something about your company, and as part of transparency, it is important to be upfront with your prospective employees. We all know that trust is crucial to any relationship, and being honest early on will be the first step in establishing trust with your potential coworker.

When posting the job description, don’t up-sell but also don’t down-sell. In this statement, I mean that you should not only rave about the cool things someone may get to do in the position but also be upfront about the not-so-fun daily tasks. This way, you will be sure to attract the right employee who is not applying just for the perks but understands all the responsibilities of the position.

Speaking from a personal level, this past summer the posting for the internship I had was very clear in saying that while I would be contributing to writing, I would also be managing databases. When I started the internship, I was surprised by just how accurate the job description was, and it made me really respect the company.

3. Be bold

Under this tip lies the daring risk to say that you should post the salary in the description. While there is high debate over the matter, the salary should be posted in order to reach complete transparency. No matter how much people say they don’t do their job for the money, let’s face it, money plays a big role in any job anyone has.

For this reason, it is important to be upfront about it. If you are running out of space in your post, take out all the other perks and just leave in the salary. People may be able to live without coffee Mondays, but it is a little harder to live without an income. Studies (as mentioned in the link above) have shown that not being upfront about salaries has led to a lower interview-to-hire ratio and poor overall candidate experience.

If these statistics get out, you will further lose your chance to get some potentially really strong candidates when your next job opening comes around. By including the salary, you will show the candidate that you are a company that pays based on skill and not gender or age.

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

While job openings may seem like a hassle, and you may just want to copy and paste the same job description over and over, it is important to take time to make the description into something that truly reflects the company and who you want to join the team. The posting works two ways — in one sense it shows off what you are like, but it also works as a hook to bring others in.

If it is clear that you took time to make the description and really care about who you hire, you will attract a hardworking employee passionate for the position. Think back to what you wish you had known prior to coming into your position and share that in the post.

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