How to Write an Effective Tech Job Posting

Write a compelling job title

Job titles are keyword and candidate magnets. They are the primary “search term” for talent looking for jobs and are the single most important “summary” copy in your job advert.

Our advice is to focus on details, specifics and keywords:

• Job title first, skills and technologies second - it might seem natural to want to put “Software Engineer with Java Experience” as a job title, but be succinct: Senior Software Engineer (C++/Java/Python) would work in this example.
• Do not put any grammatical symbols, emojis or numbers in the job title apart from brackets or dashes if delineating elements of a role.
• Keep the word count to less than 10 words.
• Do your research! How are competitors wording their jobs? Do test searches as if you were your ideal candidate looking for a job - what jobs come up?
• The only exception is regarding remote work - many employers are clearly advertising in their titles that jobs are remote or hybrid to attract more employees. So, as per the above example, Remote Senior Software Engineer (C++/Java/Python) or Senior Software Engineer (C++/Java/Python) - Remote Placement would be acceptable.

Make your job description stand out

Job descriptions should tell a story. Yes, they need to detail roles and responsibilities, but they need to be inspiring, detailed, full of personality, compelling, creative and meaningful.

They need to impart job specifics, responsibilities, desires, career pathways and why working for you is the best decision this candidate could make.

Above all else, they need to answer any question your candidate may have before they ask it, and they need to tap into the emotional connection to a job as much as the skills, pay or culture connection.

• Not too short, not too long - some brands like the minimal look. Others like posting a 1000-word tract on why working for them is awesome. There is no “right” way to do it, only your way to do it. Test out different lengths and ask senior members of your team to vet the language and copy so it reads well to workers.
• Keep it in context - compel your ideal candidate and address the job advert to them directly. This is where your candidate knowledge comes to the fore - what does your ideal candidate want from a job? Is it security? Is it career growth? Is it training in certain skills or emerging technologies?
• Team - highlight the size, makeup and dynamics of the team your staff member will be working in.
• First-person or third-person? - where possible we always err on the side of keeping job adverts as personal as possible - after all, no one wants to apply to a robot, and putting a name or face to a job adds a layer of personality and accountability to job advertisements.
• Tech first - be clear with what technologies your candidates need to know, and what adjacent technologies would benefit an application.

Remote, hybrid, in-office?

A simple and incredibly important piece of information to put in your job advert.

However, you are setting up your firm or putting together your tech team, be upfront about workforce expectations and where you expect them to be.

Remuneration, benefits and perks

• “58% of candidates find missing salary information the most frustrating aspect of the job search”.
• “Recruiters received twice the amount of applications when they published the salary”.

The stats are clear - advertising salary and benefits packages in a job advert are of tangible benefit to your application and talent attraction rate.

Be as specific as possible, or provide a salary range if you are open to a range of skilled candidates for a particular role.

• Word to the wise - as the cost of living rises and more and more people become fixated on salary returns and long-term career security, salaries will become hot topics for candidates.
• In our view, most, if not all, candidates are not unreasonable and most know their worth. Meet them on a level, and be open to conversations around salaries. That doesn’t mean you need to compromise for every candidate, but approaching salary discussions with candidates from a place of maturity and respect will stand you in good stead.
• Where possible, contextualise salary and benefits packages in line with inflation and career support, L&D and skills training - in short, how will a position at your company protect your staff and help them develop in their career?

Focus always on career and skills growth

Which naturally flows into career growth and skills training.

We see career support and skills development not as an employer brand marketing trick, but as an essential promise you’re making to staff - that you want them to be better at their jobs, and you want them to be secure in their career.

You also can’t ignore that professional learning and development is a high priority for tech staff.

• “48% of technologists surveyed have considered changing their jobs because they aren’t given adequate opportunity to develop tech skills”.

The reason we highlight salary and skills as critical job advert considerations is because of the following:

• “IT workers are primarily motivated to change jobs for an increase in compensation (38%), followed by a lack of training, growth and development opportunities (33%)”.

The bottom line

Never forget that first impressions are incredibly important.

A well-written job post is the most effective way to stop a prospective hire from getting snapped up by a competitor and should, in effect, stop the scroll - candidates “consider more than 30 potential employers during their job search”, so being able to stop a candidate job shopping is a vital part of attracting talent to your organisation.