When looking for potential candidates to fill an open position, it’s not always easy to know exactly what to say in order to get job seekers to apply. You can guess. You can hope your ad highlights factors important to job seekers, but how can you really know what matters most? What’s going to set your ad out above the others?

Well, we know! We recently surveyed job seekers to find out what factors in an employment ad make them most likely to apply for a position. We wanted to share this information, so you not only know what job seekers are looking for in employment ads, but also so you can put emphasis on these factors throughout the hiring process. Here is what they had to say:

Salary and Compensation

When going through employment ads online or from other sources, almost 55% of job seekers said seeing salary and compensation information in the ad itself was very important. Another 20% said it was the most important factor to them and 18% said it was somewhat important.

What this means is job seekers want to know what you are willing to offer them. Whether it’s a set amount, a specific salary depending on experience or an hourly wage with room to negotiate, they want to know whether they should even consider applying. Providing you are offering competitive compensation, providing this information up front could lead to more people applying for the job.

Benefits

Next factor likely to make job seekers apply is benefits. What benefits do you offer? It is not uncommon for employers to be vague in their description of benefits. This is a mistake. Laying out the benefits you are willing to offer could sway a potential job seeker who would have otherwise passed your ad/offer right up.

According to our survey results, more than 70% of job seekers consider being able to see benefit information in an employment ad to be very important (or the most important factor). Another 20% consider it to be somewhat important.

So, when you are figuring out what you are willing to offer a potential candidate, don’t forget to factor in various benefits such as: medical, dental, vision, paid time off (vacation and/or personal), 401K, disability insurance, life insurance, license fee coverage, continued education allowance, tuition reimbursement and more.

Sign-On Bonus/Relocation Assistance

While not all companies offer this, you may want to consider offering a potential candidate either a sign-on bonus or relocation assistance. This is particularly true if your office is in a rural area or you’ve had trouble getting positions filled in the past.

Offering a sign-on bonus or relocation assistance can also be extremely beneficial in attracting skilled candidates from other areas. Letting job seekers know you are willing to help them relocate to your area, specifically so they can begin a new career with your company, can be quite an attractive offer to some.

Let’s say, for example, you are looking for a Pediatric Dentist with at least 3-5 years of experience. Despite your advertisement efforts, you aren’t getting any bites. Well, promoting the fact you are offering a sign-on bonus or relocation assistance could attract potential candidates from outside your usual hiring area. In all honesty, it could also attract some highly qualified individuals who may have earlier passed your employment ad right on by.

Location, Location, Location

Yes, we’ve all heard the real estate saying about the importance of location, location, location. Location is essential in employment ads too. According to 55% of those surveyed, location or commute distance is very important. Close to 25% considered it to be the most important factor.

This is yet another reason to consider promoting relocation assistance. People want to live close to work. If they can get to and from their job without having to deal with a lot of traffic or a long commute, it can be quite appealing. Just think about it… if you found a great job at a wonderful company, with a good salary and nice people, you’d take it, right? How about if you found a similar job that maybe offered a tad less, but was 20-30 minutes closer to your house? You might consider taking that job more, wouldn’t you?

In our experience, location is key. This doesn’t mean it can’t be overcome by other factors (compensation, benefits, etc.), it simply means job seekers would rather not have long commutes. So, knowing where your business is, in relation to them, is an important factor in promoting a job.

Practice or Clinic Setting

Everyone has their own personal preferences as to the practice or clinic setting they want. Some Physical Therapists want to work in a hospital setting, others prefer outpatient and others would rather be placed in a skilled nursing facility. Much of this depends on their experience, of course, however sometimes it’s simply the type of practice or clinic setting in which they are most comfortable.

This is why it is important to clearly state the type of practice or clinic in which you have availability. This saves you and the job seekers a lot of time in the long run. Why? Well, you don’t want to have a bunch of applicants who either don’t have the experience you need or who would rather not work in your type of practice. More than 46% of job seekers surveyed stated seeing the practice or clinic setting in an employment ad was very important and 43% considered it to be most important.

Be clear and you may attract job seekers simply from this factor alone.

Important Company Details

Work environment is company detail more than 56% of those surveyed considered to be very important information to have in employment ads. Schedule, and whether you would require the candidate to work weekends once he or she was employed, was another factor stated to be very important by 54% of those surveyed. Company culture and reputation was also key with 47% listing it as an important company detail.

Including these factors in your employment ads and hiring efforts are a way of promoting your company, drawing the attention of potential job seekers and appealing those candidates who might not have considered your company otherwise.

Important Details About the Position

When searching for a new job, applicants do not always spend a lot of time reviewing each of the employment ads they see online or through other sources. Ads which lack key information will quickly get passed by. Ads promoting the key information job seekers want to know are more likely to entice job seekers to either inquire about the position or apply for the job.

These are position details job seekers feel are important to have in employment ads:

• Job description
• Skills and qualifications required
• Patient population
• Case load
• Mentorship/Continuing education availability

If you are currently looking to fill a position in your practice or clinic, we can help! The People Link is dedicated to helping companies achieve their hiring objectives. Our focus is on finding qualified healthcare applicants to fill open positions in both the Dental and Allied Healthcare industries, to the benefit of all. We have a very high success rate and look forward to helping you get your positions filled.

To find out more about our services, visit Employer Services or call Mya directly at 818-890-9998 to obtain a free, no-obligation consultation.