Isn’t it painful to put all the work in crafting the perfect job posting and then not to receive any applications?

Or even worse just applications from people not fitting the required profile…

If you are in HR for some time you probably had this experience.

(If not, congratulations. You do a great job and can skip reading.)

There are many reasons for this and often no quick fix is available.

However, one thing you can fix easily is the way you build your job postings.

Recent studies show that there are big differences in the online reading behavior of different target groups.

Men read a job posting different than women.

Engineers read differently than social workers.

How do we know that?

Scientists used a technique called ‘Eye Tracking’.

Simply explained, so-called eye-tracking studies measure where the reader’s focus falls when reading. With the help of special cameras a person’s pupil motion is recorded.

The synchronization of eye movement and the image progression then allows a very accurate statement about the reading behavior.

Pretty nerdy stuff but the results are interesting.

With regards to job postings, various studies have shown where the reader’s eyes fall first when looking at the posting. Also where it stays for the longest time.

What did the studies find out?

First of all, women are generally more meticulous and careful when reading a job posting. Men spend less time and often just roughly scan the text.

It starts with the job title. As the studies show, women usually spend around 5 seconds on this section of the job post, as opposed to men who only spend 1.2 seconds.

That is four times less!

Women deal in detail with the requirements and the aspects that are required. They critically compare own abilities with the requirements.

Men, on the other hand, only scan the requirements and rather decide whether the vacancy matches their own search criteria.

Unlike women, men tend to overestimate their own abilities. They find it easier to fade out requirements that they do not meet, and they make decisions faster.

“Sounds good, how can I apply?”.

We find that women are put off by more masculine phrases like ‘senior marketing manager’.

You can add ‘(m/f)’ and make it ‘senior marketing manager (m/f)’. But that doesn’t help much to ease the initial put off.

So if you are specifically in search for female applicants you might want to reconsider your gender language. Especially in the title.

What about one of the hardest to find species: Engineers and IT-specialists?

These people don’t read the text linearly word by word. They actually jump with their eyes to different text passages and only read individual sections!

The focus is on important key facts such as: job title, location, start date, working hours (full time / part time), type of contract (temporary / permanent) and the section ‘We offer you’.

How does this help you to write a more successful job posting?

Go with the natural behavior of your target group and make cross-reading easy for these people. You should clearly highlight essential information.

You can do this by using subheadings. Also, structure your text with

• bullet points

and listing areas such as ‘That’s what we expect’ and ‘That’s what we have to offer’ in columns next to each other.

Also, phrase your remaining text in short and compact sentences.

Are you recruiting in an industry of cross readers like IT, engineers and scientists? Then make your text ‘scanproof’ to create the highest attention.

Good luck.