In the last 10 months I’ve had the weird experience of being on both sides of the recruiting process, both as a a recruiter and as an applicant. When I was applying for jobs I would read articles about how to write a strong cover letter and how to create a resume that stands out. Most of the articles touched on being professional, concise, and having proper formatting. But the articles that really stuck with me were the ones that reinforced putting your personal stamp on your applications.
When we started our recruiting cycle I looked at articles for best practices on writing job postings and I realized there was little mention on how to use your business’s culture/personality as a tool to attract applicants.
Having seen what information was consistently repeated on both sides of the recruiting process it left me with this.
Applying to jobs in the modern day feels a lot like scrolling through social media, a majority of postings feel curated, bland, and impersonal. Many job postings end up feeling formulaic due to the writer feeling the need to only highlight the strengths of their company and shy away from the weaknesses.
Employers should lean into the quirks (good and bad) of their business that makes them standout in a long and I mean long list of job descriptions applicants will scroll through. What you may consider a negative for your business may be the reason an applicant applies.
For instance during our last recruiting cycle we made sure to emphasize our “unique” workplace culture in our job postings. (“unique” being a lot of squabbling and questionable jokes). While I’m sure that this turned some applicants away, it also brought in applicants that were looking for that type of atmosphere.
Yes professionalism and standard inclusions are important and have their place. In fact they will be a core part of your job postings, but don’t ignore your business’ personality for them.
Dylan Coffey, Human Resources