Write a Career Posting Instead of a Job Posting

Frequently, the deeper goal of a hiring executive is to hire for tomorrow – what they will need one or two years down the road – instead of just hiring for a job that needs to be filled today.

Traditional job advertisements, online or otherwise, usually include an accurate job description of the current job.  They are posted, replied to and then the applications are screened. Then the initial finalists are interviewed, references are checked, and the ultimate finalist is hired. The focus is on the ability to meet the job requirements as they are today, and fit into the organization’s culture/team.

But what if the hiring manager actually has longer term plans or expectations from the hiring process?  

To understand those, you need to go deeper during the initial job analysis process. Using key questions,  you will often discover that senior-level managers don’t want to just hire someone to perform the required tasks; they want someone who will generate a longer-term return on the recruitment dollar investment.  Specifically, they want someone who will grow with the company and have a long-term career within the team.  They want to recruit once instead of having to replace people on the typical two-to-three-year cycle.

Sometimes, hiring managers who have been with the organization for a long time assume their brand is perceived as offering a career, instead of a job opportunity.  However, I have found that assumptions like that can, more often than not, lead to misunderstandings.  The question becomes, how do you clearly convey that you are offering more than just a job?

How do you go from a job posting to a career posting?

I have found that a successful approach is to make the career point right in the title of the career e-mail/advertisement.  For example, “Career Posting with Salary, Accounting Manager – future Controller”.  To really drive home the career opportunity, consider repeating and bolding the statement “Accounting Manager – future Controller” within the body of the posting.  To raise candidate confidence even higher, indicate what goals or milestones need to be achieved by the right candidate for them to qualify for the eventual promotion.  This also applies to more senior career opportunities, for example, from Director, Finance to VP, Finance/CFO.

As simple as this seems, it is often overlooked as a simple way to attract candidates who are more interested in a career than a job.

As simple as this seems, it is often overlooked as a simple way to attract candidates who are more interested in a career than a job.

About the author:

Stephen Smyth is the CEO & Managing Consultant of Chief Financial Interviewer, Inc.

Chief Financial Interviewer, Inc. is a financial professional hiring consulting service – helping customers to hire only top notch financial professionals by performing effective job advertising, resume screening, state of the art interviewing and indepth reference checking services.