I don’t need to tell you how tough it is to recruit qualified candidates these days. With unemployment near record lows and U.S. job openings soaring to a record-high 6.3 million, attracting the attention of talented job seekers is extremely difficult.
How can you make candidates love your clients’ job postings – and ultimately spur top talent to apply? Grab their attention by listing a competitive pay rate. Here’s why posting compensation is so important:
- Job seekers are busy. They have LOTS of options to choose from. And if your posting doesn’t clearly define compensation, they may not invest the time to apply (and who can blame them?).
- Pay ranges increase recruiting efficiency. Significantly over- or under-qualified candidates will self-select out of applying, which reduces the amount of screening time your recruiters invest.
- Assumptions are dangerous. If you don’t list a pay rate, candidates may assume that the pay is horrible – or that it’s just a generic recruiting ad.
- It builds trust. Posting pay rates increases transparency, which is a vital first step in forging a successful employment relationship. So, before you put that job posting “on the market,” make it more attractive by including the pay rate.
And what if the pay rate really is lousy?
If you’re reluctant to post a pay rate because it’s truly cringe-worthy, it’s time to put a little shareworthy service into action. Be a consultant to your clients by:
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- Explaining the realities of our recruiting market. Don’t assume employers understand skill shortages, market pay rates or industry employment projections.
- Reminding clients of why they’re partnering with you in the first place. Recap the business problem driving their order (e.g., hitting a looming deadline, achieving growth goals, reducing turnover, saving money). Then, connect the dots for them. Associates who are paid fairly are more productive, engaged and reliable. While offering a higher pay rate will raise their bill rate/placement fee slightly, paying a competitive wage will pay off in terms of higher quality talent, better job performance and more.
If you can’t list pay, what else can you do to spark a connection with candidates?
Here are a few other ways to make your job postings stand out:
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- Include the geographic location. Some staffing professionals may balk at this idea, fearing a competitor will deduce the client, swoop in and steal the business out from under them. But in my opinion, the benefit far outweighs the potential risk. Jobs that include a geographic location are more “discoverable” in job seekers’ online searches. Case in point? Google now offers a location filter, so potential candidates can search for jobs within a specified distance.
- Promote the client’s culture, employment brand and perks. People work for more than just a paycheck! Describe all the other things that make the employer and the job exceptional.
- Ditch the boring laundry list of job duties. Weave those responsibilities into a short narrative featuring a typical day in the position, and its opportunities for growth.
Final Thoughts
Recruiting amazing talent for your clients will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future. To make your job postings stand out in candidates’ minds, invest a bit more time into writing creative, compelling job postings that include a competitive pay rate. If that means respectfully challenging your clients’ thinking, don’t shy away from the conversation! In the long run, educating clients about the realities of today’s employment market (including what it takes to attract A-level talent) is in everyone’s best interest.
About Haley Marketing Group
Haley Marketing provides website development, email and content marketing, social media marketing and strategy consulting to the staffing industry. We provide services to more than 1,200 staffing and recruiting firms throughout the world, ranging from solo recruiters to larger staffing and recruiting organizations with regional, national and international offices. Our mission is simple: to make great marketing more affordable!
