By Eddie Shleyner

As a direct response copywriter, I specialize in making readers take a specific action. I write a variety of copy, including articles, landing pages, sales emails, and job descriptions.

This article will walk you through an approach to job descriptions that allowed me to double my conversion rate of visitors-to-applications in less than a year. You’ll learn the strategies and best practices I used to grip candidates, exciting them enough to take action.

What is a job description?

A job description is a document written by an employer that lists the tasks and responsibilities of a specific role along with the skills and experience needed to qualify for the position.

1. Study your target candidate.

Many studies show that people buy on emotion first, and then rationalize their purchases using logic.

Applying for a job, in that sense, is a lot like making a purchase. Pressing the “Apply Now” button is an emotionally charged decision.

When writing your job ad, tap into those emotions by learning everything you can about your target candidate (i.e., the person you want to be interviewing). What are their professional goals and values? What makes them happy?

Example

Create a target candidate persona or a composite of your ideal employee. (Download these buyer persona templates to get started.)

Use the information you find to make potent promises that your target candidate wants to hear and, more importantly, you know you can keep.

Are you hiring for a role in content marketing? Consider aspects of your existing marketing team that you want to see reflected in your new hire.

• What are your current employees’ career goals?
• What do they enjoy most about the company?
• Which areas of expertise do they lack that your candidate can provide?

These are all valuable pieces of information that can help you craft a corresponding job description and ensure your potential candidates would be a fit at your organization – both culturally and professionally.

2. Optimize the job title with keywords.

Every day, the job hunt leads millions of people to search millions of keywords. This makes SEO very important to the recruitment process, especially when writing job ads.

In your quest to be unique and desired, don’t make up a new, creative name for an established role. In other words, don’t call your open content marketing position an “Attention Ninja” or “Audience Crafter.”

Example

For a role in content marketing, title your job exactly what you’re looking for, such as content marketing manager. If you’re in the B2B space with clients all over the world, for instance, add a few more adjectives: “Global B2B Content Marketing Coordinator.”

Keep in mind that the experience level of your ideal candidate can change the words they use when looking for jobs online.

If you’re hiring for a mid-level content marketer, for example, consider words like “strategist,” “specialist,” or even “manager.” Is the content you produce part of a much larger digital marketing operation? …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron