Tips on posting jobs from a job hunter

I will keep this short and too the point, you're busy.

• Start with the requirements.
  Save the excellence of your company until the end. You only want to sell your company to the Right people. Start with the degree, clearance and years of experience required. Move right on to keywords.

  If you must start your job posting with something other then the requirements, use a section heading to point out where the requirements are. For example: REQUIREMENTS

• Don't over require.
  "3 years of experience driving yellow, Thomas brand buses in Boston-shire-ville-ton, stopping often to pick-up or discharge still growing persons" is too specific. "3 years of experience driving a bus. Experience with children, the Boston-shire-ville-ton area and Thomas brand buses prefered" would work as well.

• Avoid posting jobs for local candidates on nation-wide job boards.
  There are local websites and newspapers. But, you'll spend the same money for a local internet posting as you will for nationwide. If you really must have a local candidate, use a local site.

• When posting multiple jobs, use different headers.
  It looks like you accidentally posted the same job several times and only one will get read.

• Check it after posting.
  Check that your job posting is readable after you post it. Many job sites strip the layout and formatting when you upload to them. Your company is dishing out the money for the advertisement. Look at what they just bought.
  • Does it have blank lines between paragraphs or sections? These spaces help delinate thoughts.
  • Did line breaks get removed? Sometimes two lines will be crushed together, for example: "XYZ skills requiredStrong knowledge of ABC"
  • Did critical indenting get removed? Would this page be readable without the indentation?
  • Did any strange characters get added? Sometimes symbols get garbled.
  • DON'T USE ALL CAPS. It is considered shouting on the internet.
• Contact info or not?
  It's your call. Some sites will filter all the response for you. This makes it almost impossible for determined job seekers to follow up. On the other hand, you might not want all of the people who read the ad to have your email address.
• Hiring Range is Different Than Hunting Range When a job hunter is looking for work in Albany, NY, they are NOT looking for work in Houston, TX. Job boards call this a feature but it is spam. It is corrupting the results of a search. Ask the job board why they are displaying your ad to people who don't want it.

My methodology in searching for a job is split into phases. In the first phase, I perform a search and skim the results for jobs that I might be suited for. At this stage I am not interested in anything other than a potential skill match. Jobs that come close are bookmarked for later examination.

In later stages, I make a detailed comparison of my skills and those required for each bookmarked job. This is where the excellence of your company interests me.