I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Looking for work sucks. In large part that’s because most career sites and job posting content is incredibly boring, generic and don’t say much about the company or the job. I don’t want to insult you, but it’s the truth. The thing is that with Google’s new adjustments to search, having great content that people actually want to read is also a must if you want your site and jobs to rank well. Here’s a simple test to see if your job postings or career site are worth the read.
The label scrape test
A while ago the incredibly smart marketer Christopher Penn wrote about the Marketing label scrape test. Here’s the gist of it:
Scrape off the labels, names, and brands in your marketing collateral and see if you can tell if the company/product/service is still unquestionably you, or if it could be anyone at all – maybe not even in your industry.
Now apply that same test to your HR collateral and see if your postings stand out or if they’re dull and generic. Let’s give a try a few examples:
We’ll only look at career site copy to save some space and I’ve taken consumer brands so chances are you’ll know them.
Who’s career site do you think this is?
Your way to [...]
We expect a lot. Just like you do.
We are looking for personalities who value an interesting professional environment and top-class opportunities for their personal development. Personalities who believe that they are capable of meeting the requirements of [...] and who are fascinated by sports cars. Become part of the [...] myth.
Manifold possibilities exist for your entry into [...] – be it as a student, a university graduate, or an experienced professional. We offer interesting opportunities for a professional development to committed people.
Refer to the [...] Job Locator for current vacancies within [...] and our international subsidiaries all over the world.
Who do you think you’d be working for?
How about this? Can you figure out who’s career site this is?
Less of a job, more of a calling.
Working at […] is a whole different thing. Because whatever you do here, you play a part in creating some of the best-loved technology on the planet. And in helping people discover all the amazing things they can do with it. You could call it work, or you could call it a mission. We call it a blast.
License to change the world.
We make things that make an impact. Like when someone creates their first video with […]. Surfs the Internet — the real Internet — on an […]. Or uses the built-in […] camera to video chat with their grandchildren. Making it all happen can be hard work. And you could probably find an easier job somewhere else. But that’s not the point, is it?
You’ll be in very good company.
Whether you want to be an […] engineer or a Concierge at an […] Retail Store, we’re looking for the best. People who are smart, creative, up for any challenge, and incredibly excited about what they do. In other words, […] people. You know, the kind of people you’d want to hang around with anyway.
What do you want to do?
You’ve got talents. We’ve got some great ways for you to use them, including some you probably never thought of before. There are two great places to search for your dream job.
Who do you think you’ll be working for?
I’m not necessarily saying one is better than the other. Maybe you’ve even figured out who both companies are. What I hope you get out of this is: Take the time to review what your career site says, how your job postings are written and take the time to make them unique and compelling — you’ll get more qualified candidates because of it. If you can scrape out all references to your brand, website, products and services and people can still tell who you are, you’ve done your job as a recruiter and a budding SEO expert.
What do your job descriptions say about you? Do they pass the scrape test?
(Photo credit: Bill Jacobus)
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