Job posts

A job post is more than just a job post. It’s often a jobseeker’s very first impression of your company. To make a great first impression on a jobseeker, you should think like a jobseeker when writing your job post.

And we can help with that.

We’ve taken the time to speak to jobseekers looking for all sorts of jobs on Indeed. Now we’re sharing the things we’ve learnt – what jobseekers say they want – with you in this article. As you read on, remember to ask yourself, ‘Would a jobseeker find this useful?’ when deciding whether or not to include something in your job post.

Have you ever seen your job post on Indeed even though you didn’t post it? That’s because we aggregate job posts from other sites. We recommend always posting on Indeed so your job has the best chance of capturing the attention of top talent and candidates have the best experience possible when they view your job on uk.indeed.com.

Gathering information

Indeed’s step-by-step job post process makes posting jobs easier. To make the most of it, gather some information ahead of time. 

Here’s what jobseekers say are must-haves if you want them to apply:  

• A clear job title
• Day-to-day responsibilities
• Qualification requirements (degrees, certificates, software knowledge, etc.)
• Exact location including street address (or remote)
• Job type (full-time, part-time, etc.)
• Pay range (hourly or salary)
• Benefits (health, dental, etc.)

The above information covers the majority of the questions any jobseeker is going to have about the position. And with this information, you can spend less time filling in your job post and more time connecting with great candidates.

Opening up your search

For some jobs, hard skills and certifications are a must in order to consider a candidate. For others, you may want to prioritise ability and cultural fit. Why? Many of the employers we’ve talked to have stated that the best candidates they hired were somewhat unconventional.

It’s about potential. Some candidates might have the right attitude and the drive to be a powerful asset to your team, even if their CV isn’t packed with the exact experience you’re looking for. Below are some characteristics that many employers tell us they look for:

• Integrity
• Ability to communicate effectively
• Willingness to learn
• Independence
• Ambition
• Adaptability

Don’t be afraid to mention some of these traits in your job description. That way, jobseekers can see whether or not the role – and the company culture – is a good fit before they apply.

Need-to-have vs nice-to-have

Your job description describes the ideal candidate, but there’s a difference between crucial hard skills and preferred (but still important) soft skills. The difference? You can’t consider someone for a nursing job if they don’t even have a degree in nursing.

For the sake of your jobseekers, always put the need-to-have requirements at the top of your job post. They’ll be thankful to see whether they’re qualified or not straight away. It’s also important to clearly label which qualifications are required and which are preferred. 

If you’re not sure, a quick conversation with a colleague can help you get some clarification.

Paying to optimise your post

Any time you post a job on Indeed, you’ll be asked whether or not you want to pay to sponsor your job. Sponsoring has a number of benefits, and it’s good to know ahead of time whether or not you have a recruitment budget to begin with.

If you post your job without sponsoring it, you can always go back and add a budget later.

Are you new to sponsoring? We’ll explore how to sponsor a job and whether sponsoring one is right for you later in this guide, or you can learn more now.

Writing the job post

When you start a job post, Indeed breaks it down into steps so you don’t miss any crucial information that jobseekers are looking for. Make sure to answer as many prompts as you can so we can help connect you with the right candidates.

Best practices to follow

When you write in a way that’s easy to read, you’re more likely to have your post read from start to finish. Some jobseekers might close out of a poorly formatted post, even if they could be a good fit. And you definitely don’t want a talented jobseeker to be left with a less-than-ideal impression of your company.

Above all else, following these best practices will help you attract the kind of quality candidates you want to hire, even if they’re just scanning your post.

Here are a few best practices:  

• Avoid big blocks of text – break it up into smaller 3 to 4 sentence paragraphs
• Use accessible vocabulary anyone can understand
• Use lists (bullet points) to make information easy to scan
• Write in an upbeat, conversational tone
• Add sections (qualifications, benefits, etc.) for scannability

Filling out job details

Once you start receiving prompts for job details, try not to skip any of the form fields Indeed provides. The salary range is the very first thing candidates look for in a job post – don’t skip it! Luckily, Indeed makes it easier by giving you salary recommendations based on average market data for the job title and location.

Location is also a very important detail that you should include. Even if people in your organisation are working remotely right now, including your company’s location is a must if you expect a new employee to work on-site in the future.

The more information you provide, the better. All that information is used to show quality candidates your job post in the search results. And don’t worry; all the job post information you type out is saved for next time. So the next time you post a job, you can save time by selecting a previous job post as a starting point.

Writing your job description

Your job description is where you list qualifications, skills, benefits and anything else that’s relevant to the job. Indeed breaks it down to one area at a time so it never feels like too much.

A great job description includes four main sections: Introduction, Responsibilities, Requirements and Benefits. If possible, try to add some of the need-to-have requirements in your introduction so jobseekers can immediately decide whether or not they’re qualified.

When writing your job description, you never need to start from scratch. Take a look at the job description templates at the bottom of this page as a thought-starter for your own job post – we have one for almost every job title you can think of.

Tools to find the right candidates

Indeed has a number of tools to help you attract and find qualified applicants. When you use applicant qualifications, you’ll save time on finding great candidates to interview.

Required qualifications

To quickly find your best applicants, make sure to ask some questions on the applicant qualifications page of your job post. You can ask questions about applicants’ qualifications and, later on, filter by these questions in your Employer Dashboard. 

Indeed provides a number of pre-made questions to choose from, but you can also customise applicant qualifications to fit your needs. That way, you can immediately see whether to consider an applicant for the job.

You can choose to automatically reject applicants who answer ‘no’ to certain questions. Although it may seem harsh, people prefer to know where they stand with a potential employer. And Indeed creates polite personalised emails on your behalf to soften the blow.

Sending auto-rejections helps you earn the Responsive Employer Badge: an icon that lets jobseekers know you’re more likely to respond as they decide which jobs to apply to.

Sponsoring your job

Believe it or not, we understand that posting a job is sometimes the way to go in certain hiring situations. But if you want to hire someone quickly or are hiring for a hard-to-fill position, paying to post your job will give your job better visibility in relevant search results. That means your job post will appear more often to the kind of candidates you’re looking for. 

Free vs Sponsored Jobs

To post a job for free* or to sponsor? That’s the question.

How quickly do you need to hire someone? If you’re trying to hire someone ASAP, Sponsored Jobs can help you receive more applicants in less time. You can also use the ‘Urgently needed’ label with Premium Sponsored Jobs to show jobseekers you’re actively recruiting. 

How specialised is the role? If you’re trying to hire someone for a hard-to-fill position (e.g. nurses, engineers and tax professionals), Premium Sponsored Jobs can provide added visibility among candidates who meet one or more of the occupational criteria for the role.

Where are you located? If you live in a place where there just isn’t a large pool of talent in your industry, Standard Sponsored Jobs can increase the number of applications you receive through added visibility.

Are you having a hard time hiring? As a general best practice, if you have a good job description and title but are still having trouble hiring, sponsoring can help. You may be hiring in a competitive market or have a hard-to-fill job. 

Benefits of sponsoring

Sponsoring makes a big difference to employers who are serious about recruitment.  Employers have two different opportunities to optimise and maximise job posting performance on Indeed. Standard or Premium Sponsored Jobs both offer major advantages for finding quality candidates:

Standard Sponsored Jobs

• Better job post visibility: Sponsored Jobs have more staying power in search results than non-sponsored jobs so they’re seen by active jobseekers. That means you’re more likely to reach the applicants you’re looking for. 
• Reach more candidates: Indeed will include your job in email notifications sent to relevant jobseekers in our database, actively placing your job in front of the right talent for your role. 
• Create a positive candidate experience: Indeed can send automated messages to engage top candidates on your behalf at key moments of the recruitment process, like when they apply to your job, are added to your shortlist, or you reject an application from the Employer Dashboard.
• Pay for performance: you’ll receive applications at the right pace for your recruitment needs, using Market Insights to set a competitive budget, and you can start and stop sponsoring your job posts at any time.

Premium Sponsored Jobs 

• Proactive matching: immediately view candidates whose CVs on Indeed fit your job description and invite them to apply. 
• Quick, efficient and memorable connections: with Premium Sponsored Jobs, your role is prioritised over similar job posts and you have the option to add attention-grabbing visuals, like company logos and images and the ‘Urgently needed’ label to help your job stand out. We’ll also show you candidate highlights to shorten your review time and provide you with auto-generated messages to contact applicants.

How billing works

You can pause or close your job post or remove your budget at any time. Just click Edit job in the Employer Dashboard. From there, you have the ability to change your budget or pause or close your job. We know that recruitment needs can quickly change, which is why Indeed gives you complete control over what you spend.

Contacting Client Success

Need more help preparing and posting your job? Our Client Success team optimises jobs on Indeed every day. Contact Indeed directly from within your Employer Dashboard.

To contact Indeed directly:

• Sign in to your Indeed account
• Click on Go to Dashboard in the upper navigation bar
• Select Help in the navigation bar and then select Contact us for the option to chat, call or send a message

Our Client Success team is here to help employers like you connect with great candidates. If you don’t have a job posted yet, you can create an employer account on Indeed in order to reach us. We’re here to assist with your recruitment needs no matter your circumstances. Give them a call to make sure your job title and description are the very best they can be.

Please note: Indeed will never contact you via tools like WhatsApp. If you believe you’ve received a fraudulent call, please report the number to your phone provider.

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