In journalistic terms, “inverted pyramid” refers to presenting the most important information first, just in case someone doesn’t finish reading an entire article. (Picture an upside-down triangle.)
An effective job title works like an inverted pyramid: It immediately grabs and holds a candidate’s attention, so they keep on reading.
In today’s digital world, you need to take things back a step further and be sure your job titles are not only compelling and attractive to desired talent, but also searchable. Because if a candidate can’t find, doesn’t understand, or isn’t immediately drawn in by your job title, their search ends there.
What does an effective job title look like?
It doesn’t matter how great your pay and benefits are if a job seeker doesn’t get past your job title. An effective job title:
- Attracts the right candidates: The right job title could mean the difference between landing desired talent – and not.
- Clarifies the responsibilities of the job: The right title provides a clear idea of job responsibilities before a candidate goes on to read the full job description.
Let’s talk a little more about being searchable.
It may be tempting to come up with a funky, unique-sounding title to add a little flair to your job description, but if you’re not careful, this approach could backfire. Candidates search for job listings the same way people search for anything on the internet: by typing in keywords.
- Put yourself in a candidate’s shoes. They’re likely going to visit your career site – or start there – as a key aspect of their job search. Wherever that search takes them, chances are they will use industry-specific terms versus any specific roles and corresponding titles you may have created. Remember, they don’t work for you yet, so they don’t get your in-house jargon. So, stick to searchable terms in your titles. For instance, “social media manager” is more likely to yield robust search results than “social engagement ninja.”
Now, let’s talk about being concise and specific.
Searchable is Step One, at least in terms of specificity. You need to strike the right balance so your job titles are neither too generic nor too company-specific or “out there.” And regardless, avoid long titles. Max out at four to six words. Any title longer than that may actually deter people from applying.
- For a job title check, find out how other companies in your industry are recruiting for similar positions.
- For additional clarification and searchability, add industry-related terminology. A good example of this is if you have a posting for a Loin Loader (This is an actual position that our team has come across), a good title would be Manufacturing – Loin Loader. While candidates won’t search specifically for Loin Loader, there are people searching “Manufacturing.”
Job titles are one aspect of impactful job descriptions, which is one aspect of successful job advertising and industry-leading recruitment marketing. For any more advice regarding best practices in Recruitment Marketing, contact Haley Marketing today.
