Farm Progress

How to steer the best job applicants to your farm

Start with attracting the best candidates.

Bonnie Johnson, Marketing Associate

March 14, 2017

2 Min Read
opolja/ThinkstockPhotos

When Cynthia Cole, AgCareers.com Talent Solutions Manager, speaks with employers who are about to post a job on AgCareers.com, they often want her input on how to create the most effective job posting for the talent they are seeking.

“The first piece of advice I give them is to focus on attracting the best candidates and not necessarily screening out those that are unqualified,” says Cole. At a minimum, job postings should include information about the company, a brief description of the job, the qualifications or requirements to effectively do the job, and how to apply for it. Generally, the “qualifications or requirements” section is the most challenging and crucial portion of the job posting. Cynthia shares some tips on how to create a job posting that will compel the best candidates to apply:

 Required vs Preferred Qualifications

  • Keep it short – The best candidates have limited time to job search. Get right to the point about what your company has to offer and tell them about the ideal candidate you are seeking. Combine similar qualifications when practical and try to limit your list to no more than seven very specific requirements.

  • Keep it simple – Listing only the minimum qualifications for the position is best, as good candidates that do not possess the “preferred” qualifications will often disqualify themselves without ever applying. If you wish to list those “nice to have” qualifications, deemphasize them by listing them at the bottom of that section of the posting.

  • Keywords searchable – Candidates search for jobs the same way employers search for candidates – by keywords. When listing requirements for the job, use terms that are searchable online. Avoid acronyms or terminology that is unique to your company and might be unknown to the general public; however, be sure to include technical terms that are common to the career type or industry sector.

And one last piece of advice: modify your posting as needed. Once your posting is public, adjust the wording of your qualifications, if necessary, to steer the proper candidates to your opportunity. If you find that the applicants you are receiving are consistently lacking a certain skill you want to see on their resumes, fine tune your posting accordingly.

For more information, contact [email protected].

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Penton Agriculture.

 

 

About the Author

Bonnie Johnson

Marketing Associate, Agcareers.com

As Marketing Associate at AgCareers.com, Bonnie Johnson works on both internal and external communications, email marketing, company branding and market research projects. Bonnie was raised on a farm in Northeast Iowa and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa and her Masters from Iowa State University. Bonnie has been with AgCareers.com since 2010.  AgCareers.com is a leading online career site and human resource service provider for the agriculture, food, natural resources and biotech industries.

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