The Anatomy of A Great Job Posting - Internal Marketing 2023: Part Three
Updated: May 11
Attracting Incredible Talent With Job Postings
Good marketing follows the three C’s: it’s clear, it’s consistent, and it’s compelling.
Typical job postings are cluttered and noisy, carry very little consistency, and are extraordinarily boring.
This is costing you your time & sanity as well as costing your company money. There’s a better way.
The Anatomy of a Great Job Posting
Part 1-The Job Posting Header
Title
This one is probably where most companies do the best job. You need to be very clear about what the position is and what the company is. You don’t need to be creative. Examples of this:
Front Desk Receptionist at Family Dental, Legal Assistant at Family Law Offices, Certified Nurse Aide at Family Assisted Living & Memory Care
Pre-head
This comes before the headline and identifies your target audience; the potential candidates you want to attract.
Example: “Attention Licensed Nurse Practitioners…”
You can take that a step further and drop one or two of the values you're seeking in the candidate.
Example: “Attention Passionate, Caring Licensed Nurse Practitioners…”
Headline
This is the most important part. They’ve clicked the title and you’ve got their initial attention with the pre-head. But they’re not hooked yet. In the headline, you must communicate the main benefit to the potential employee and do so in a compelling way.
The best way is to address a problem and resulting pain commonly experienced by employees in the job you’re offering, but isn’t the case with your company.
Here’s an example:
LOOKING FOR A POSITION WHERE YOU’RE HEARD, SUPPORTED, AND HAVE THE NECESSARY FREEDOM TO DO YOUR BEST?
Summary Preview
This is a summary/teaser of the rest of the job posting crafted in a way that supports and reinforces the headline. Copywriters sometimes call this the Deck Copy.
Here’s an example:
Here’s what we’re excited to tell you:
LPNs so often get stuck in no-win situations and the position should really look different.
We believe a supported, empowered LPN is a pivotal contributor in making the healthcare industry better for everyone.
Your career is a journey and what we have to offer will put you in the driver’s seat of that journey.
Part 2-The Job Posting Body
Use Subheads, Bullet Points, & Employee Testimonials to build rapport and establish credibility while describing the position in an excited way.
Subheads are supporting headlines that break up the job posting and make it easily scannable. Good subheads keep your candidate hooked.
Try to limit yourself to 3-5 bullet points. In typical job postings, they end up as long lists of things the company wants from the candidate. The flip we’re going to make is talking about what the company wants FOR the candidate.
Example Subheads:
LPNs Are On The Frontline of Healthcare and Should Be Seen As The Authority and Treated With Respect
Use bullet points to describe how they’re on the frontline and why people should respect their points of view.
In doing so, you are describing the daily responsibilities of this role in your company. You’re also shaping the mission you’re sending them on.
A Truly Passionate and Caring LPN Makes An Impact in the Lives of People Daily & Are The Experts We Look To For Improving Healthcare For Everyone.
Use bullet points to describe what makes them the experts.
In doing so, you are describing the required experience and education needed for this role.
Our Team Rallies Around One Another To Get The Job Done The Best It Can Be
“Use testimonials from actual team members that support what you’ve claimed in this job posting,” Jenny Curran, LPN with Us for 19 Years.
“Even better is if you can use video to capture this testimonial,” Dan Taylor, LPN with Us for 19 Years.
Part 3-The Job Posting Offer
Value Justification
This is where you are going to illustrate the value the candidate receives. Using another subhead, talk about the benefits of the job. Stack the value. Then follow it up by describing benefits and how they will impact the candidate.
Not Only Do We Want To Offer A Great Role In An Ideal Work Environment, But We’re Also Paying A Great Salary And More.
We are paying x salary for LPNs with x years of experience & education because you deserve to be paid for what you bring to the table.
We provide advanced job & career training with several options for you to choose from because you deserve to be in the driver's seat of your career journey.
We provide a great health care package with paid sick time because if you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t be effective in taking care of others.
Etc. keep it to 3-5 benefits, even if there’s more. Condense them.
Risk Removal
With external marketing, the goal of risk removal is to eliminate doubt of what happens next and fear of buyers remorse. And if we’ve done a good job, this will all be sounding too good to be true. Risk Removal is often done with two things: testimonials and plans. In marketing, a business will also often use a money-back guarantee or something similar. That doesn’t translate as well when it comes to hiring.
We’ve already covered testimonials. I like to think of the plan as “illuminating the path forward”. Here’s how it could look.
Your Path To The LPN Position You Deserve
Step One - Submit your resume, work history, and references. (This should be whatever action you want them to take; an online application, in-person application, etc)
Step Two - We will follow up within three days and let you know one of three things: We want to move forward with an interview, we don’t want to move forward with an interview, or we need more time to review all the applications and will reach back out in x number of days. (This is about setting clear expectations of what will happen next and not leaving them in the dark like 99% of job listings do)
Step Three - We schedule an interview where we both learn more about each other and see if we’re the right fit. (You might have a 10-step hiring process, you do not need to bring it up in the job post)
Call To Action
This is so important and rarely done. You must call them to action at the very bottom of the posting.
Don’t be weak, shy, or indirect with this. However, you say it, they should hear it as “We Want You To Apply Today!”
I recommend making your call to action an If-Then statement that recaps the entire post. For example:
If you are tired of the typical, stressful life of an LPN and ready for a role that values you as an expert and will empower your career and home life while paying you well, then apply today to this job posting and move your career forward today!
(Apply Here)
The format:
If (you have this problem) & (you want this transformation), then (take this action) & (solve this problem).
What You Need To Do Now
Transformation requires action. Here are three actions to help you implement this effectively
Rewrite your most recent open job posts to include these parts. Use this Example Job Posting as a template, but adapt it to suit your needs (and your ideal candidate!)
Share these articles with your team. Getting everyone on the same page is the fastest way to see change.
Register for the Free Training on May 18th! (See Details Below!)
Free Live Training Event
Crucial Message has partnered with Christine Morse of Avid Marketing Alliance in an effort to help businesses transform their workplace culture into one that is world-class and everyone is talking about. We believe that employees should be happy at work, highly motivated and productive, and fully engaged in moving their company forward. This happens when they are individually aligned with the overall company mission and empowered in their role. Internal Marketing is the key to this transformation.
Christine will be hosting a live training event on Thursday, May 18th at 3:30 - 4:30 PM. You can sign up for that event here:
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About Christine and Avid Marketing Alliance
Christine has over 20 years of experience in marketing, team leadership, client relations, and sales with companies such as Herman Miller, Amway International, Spectrum Health, and Disability Advocates of Kent County.
Christine excels at providing strategic counsel in marketing, training her clients' team on how to execute the marketing plan, and/or walking alongside them as their marketing department.
She also donates her time and energy to many local non-profit organizations which contribute to the sustainability of this community. Some of these organizations include AWE (Alliance for Women Entrepreneur), Guiding Light Mission, Women and Girls Lead (WGVU), USGBC (US Green Building Counsel), WMSBF (W MI Sustainable Business Forum), Veteran Job Services, and several others.