You’ve probably heard people talk about “the art of recruitment” or the “science of good recruiting,” but what about recruiting math? With all the talk about recruiting metrics and analytics, let’s talk about how can we use some basic job posting data to help improve your responses. Response improvement means different things depending on your situation. For example, that may mean increasing your resume submissions, decreasing the quantity of applicants, evolving the qualities of your applicants or even a combination thereof.
So let’s get down to it, starting with some basic job posting math.
Basic Job Posting Metrics
Search View Efficiency: Total job views/total search views. When your ideal job seeker searches for a job, are your jobs showing up in their search results? Or if they are showing up, are they showing up high enough in the results to be clicked on
Posting Click Through Rates (or Apply %): Clicks or resumes/job views. Of the candidates who view your job, what percentage actually submit their information?
Applications per Job: Total number of applicants/total number of job. Across your jobs over a period of time, what is the average number of applications (or click throughs) per job?
Cost per Resume: Cost/total number of resumes during that time period. What is the average return of investment based on resume submissions or applications?
Understanding & Impacting the Response Factors
Getting Searched: Ensuring that you receive the applicants that you need begins with ensuring that your jobs show in search results.
Three of the most important things that can influence this outcome are:
Job Posting Title: Use a job title that is accurate and clear to the job. For example, internal requisitions (FT E.Admin 564b) or creative internal titles (Master of First Impressions) have their place for internal uses or after hiring, but won’t help your job get found. Consider the person you want to hire and what job they will be searching for.
Keywords: Writing a clear job description and requirements of the job will ensure that you include keywords that job seekers will be using to find the right position. Avoid “keyword stuffing,” simply write about the job and the skills set required and you’ll likely include keywords that are best suited to attracting the right job seekers.
Recency & Longevity: Depending on the search platform, results may be given preference based on recency of the posting, or having some “staying power” may actually give your job a better chance of being indexed for search results.
Getting “Clicked” from Search Results
When candidates search for a job - whether on the web, a job board or your career site - there are three main things that they can typically see from the search that will influence their decision to apply (or not to apply).
Job Title: Job seekers will review the job title and assess, “Is this the type of job that I am looking for?” The more clear and also descriptive you can be with the job title will help attract the right people.
Company & Brand: Whether your company name or logo is accessible from search results, your employment brand will impact whether or not a job seeker will click to learn more.
Location: Proximity to home is one of the top factors impacting job selection for job seekers, so including all of the appropriate locations can mean the difference between attracting candidates or having them pass by your job.
Salary: Including salary can help the right candidates select in and unqualified candidates select out. For example, if a candidate sees a salary range well above their current salary, it can give them an indication that they are not qualified for the role. Likewise, a low salary can indicate that they may be overqualified.
Getting Candidates to hit “Apply”
Job Description: Write a job description that both sells the right candidates on why they should apply and screens out the candidates that are not the right fit. Remember not to use internal job descriptions, but revise them and create a job advertisement.
Skills/Requirements: Most candidates will assess whether they have the skills and knowledge required for the position prior to applying, so be clear about what skills are mandatory for the position.
Comp & Benefits: This is another opportunity for you to highlight the perks that your organization offers. Remember to include the expected like vacation and medical benefits, but also remember unique perks that aren’t in a typical benefits package. That can include your culture, training, and your workspace.
Company Information: Most candidates care about organizational fit, in addition to job fit. And while most candidates will (and should) research your company before the interview, provide enough information upfront to entice your target candidates to want to learn more and apply.
For more information, check out our article, How to Write More Effective Job Postings.
