How Startups Can Attract Better Talent By Improving Their Job Postings

Hiring new team members for your startup is a lot like marketing your company, but many businesses don’t approach it this way.

If you want to hire the absolute best candidates, you want to make sure your job posts are attracting the right job seekers by providing them extra information to help them decide whether or not to submit a resume.

This involves using your marketing skills to craft your job postings.

Here are a few ways startups can attract better talent by improving their job postings.

Tell Applicants Why

While most job descriptions provide a thorough list of what’s expected of applicants, and they usually include the requirements, many are often missing the “why.”

Practice your marketing skills by setting your job description apart from the competition. Tell your applicants why your startup is the one they want to work for.

Describe your workplace benefits. For example, do you offer parental leave, telecommuting options, flexible hours, on-site fitness or catering, dry cleaning options, or generous vacation time? Be specific so applicants know what they’re getting.

Describe your workplace culture. How do you reward employees? How do you treat them? These descriptions can help you lead someone away from a comfortable job to your startup where they can be authentic and feel valued. 

Explain Your Core Values

Today’s job seekers want to know what your startup stands for. They want to know your mission and your vision as well as your core values. 

Again, using your marketing tools, explain your company culture when it comes to your core values. Let applicants know what it really looks like working for your startup.

Do you give back to the community? Do you volunteer together as a team? Consider using videos to show job applicants what your core values look like. This is a great way to give applicants an inside peek.

Speak to the Best

You want the best talent, so speak directly to them. These are the folks who actually read your entire job listing, so use the space to be specific and enticing.

Job applicants will form an opinion about your company from your job listing. In fact, what they read in the job post may even determine whether or not they visit your website to learn more about you, and ultimately if they’ll apply for your job.

Target top talent and speak their language. They know enough to read between the lines. You don’t want them to have to do this, though. Lay it all out for them.

You’ll find that attracting top performers takes a great marketing strategy and a well thought out job description. 

Final Thoughts

To conclude, we leave you with a few more things to consider so that your startup can attract better talent.

When crafting your job description in your job postings, you want to:

• Involve your marketing staff. They can help you present your startup and the open job description in the most creative and tempting way.
• Know exactly what your startup needs before posting an open job.
• Make a list of the top things you are looking for in your best employees. Is this their hard skills like their education and experience? Is it their soft skills such as their leadership and communication abilities? Do you want someone with empathy? Is it important to you what their core values are? Know these things before writing your job posting.
• Ask yourself why someone would want your job. For example, if John Smith is content at his current workplace, what would be so appealing about your open position that he would leave?

The most important aspect about your job posting is appealing to prospective applicants so you can attract the top performers.  Use what you know about marketing to appeal to your target audience, and you’ll soon have a staff of top talent. 

Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your HR duties, finances, payroll and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.

Authors

Kanika Sinha

Kanika is an enthusiastic content writer who craves to push the boundaries and explore uncharted territories. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of business-to-business dynamics, she creates compelling narratives that help businesses achieve tangible ROI. When not hunched over the keyboard, you can find her sweating it out in the gym, or indulging in a marathon of adorable movies with her young son.