It’s pretty easy to get applications for a vacant position – upload the position to the major job boards, use the right keywords, and soon you’ll have people submitting their applications.

But if you want more apps – and therefore more people to choose from – then you’ll have to work a little harder. This is especially true right now because the job market has more open positions than applicants and the competition is fierce.

However, it’s worth the extra effort when it comes to your job postings. If you take the right steps to attract more applicants, then you will have a wider range of applicants. That means you’ll have a better chance of hiring the best candidates – and it means you can keep those great candidates away from your rivals.

We’ve put together five foolproof strategies you should use to ensure that the best candidates will want to apply for your vacancies. And, if that’s not enough, head over here to find out. what you will see on CVs in 2022, or click here for our verdict on the best job boards in the United States.

Post in the right places

There are so many choices when it comes to listing your job posting online, so it can be difficult to know which sites to use and which to avoid.

Fortunately, there are some golden rules that can make this decision a lot easier. It is important to post on all major traditional job boards, like Indeed, Monster and ZipRecruiter – if you want to access the largest databases of candidates, that’s obvious.

Make sure to post it on LinkedIn, too, because it is the largest professional social network, and that makes it an indispensable tool if you want to be really thorough on the job search. The site’s huge database and great filtering options also mean you can target people with specific skills or traits. This is a good option if you are looking for specific people or want to reach passive candidates who wouldn’t normally see your job postings.

If you want more applicants and a wider range of high quality applicants, you have to go beyond these obvious sites. Most industries have niche job sites that attract experts and specialists, so posting to these sites is a great idea.

Beyond job boards, post your vacancies on your company’s social media profiles to expose the ads to the largest possible audience and develop relationships with universities to attract graduate talent.

Organize your online presence

There’s no point in posting your job posting on lots of forums and social media if people don’t know about your business.

If you want more people to apply, you need to make sure that your business has a great reputation and that lots of positive information about the business is easy to find online. Applicants do their research when looking for a job, and if the company seems vague or obnoxious, they’re less likely to apply.

Keeping your Glassdoor page up to date with as much information as possible is essential, and you should watch for negative reviews to spot potential issues before they become more important. Other large job boards also allow companies to set up profile pages, so keep them up to date. Likewise, maintain your social media profiles – from Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn and Instagram – with company information, posts, and updates.

Social media activity, company profile pages, positive employee reviews, and an active presence in the industry all paint a positive image of your business. And, if you have that, more people will apply to work in your business.

Provide tons of information

More candidates will be tempted to apply for your job posting if you provide as much information as possible in a clear and concise manner.

This means that your job description should list the responsibilities and requirements of the job, but that’s not all: if you want your job posting to be attractive, you need to provide concrete salary details, job information. application deadline and a contact in the company if people have questions about the vacant position.

Beyond a transparent approach, your job postings should contain a lot of useful information about the benefits, culture, diversity initiatives and environmental work of your company. More and more applicants are basing their decisions on these factors now, so they will be more likely to submit an application if you can provide solid information.

It’s not just about listing all of those details either. You need to use plain language rather than jargon, and more candidates will find your ads if they’re also SEO-optimized and include relevant keywords. It is also good to add pictures if possible.

Reward people correctly

Currently, the job market has more vacancies than applicants, which puts people in positions of power – not businesses. Combine that with a higher cost of living and applicants more willing to ask for higher wages and better benefits, and it’s clear companies need to work harder than ever to attract applicants.

However, there is only one way to approach this problem: to make sure that candidates apply to your company rather than a rival, make sure that you are offering more money than the competition and insure – make sure you also have a comprehensive and competitive advantage set that goes above and beyond, too. If you want to be successful, don’t skimp and avoid these issues.

It’s certainly a more expensive strategy than trying to hire cheap staff, but it’s one of the best methods if you want to ensure that you have a large pool of high-quality applicants.

Build on your existing workforce

Your current employees are obviously great at getting the day-to-day work done, but they’re also potentially an untapped recruiting resource.

Your business should have a referral program that offers financial rewards if staff recommend hires who pass their probationary period. This is crucial because your existing employees will be encouraged to recommend your vacancies to friends, family and business contacts. Not only will these recommendations hopefully have the skills to do the job, but they should also be culturally appropriate – after all, it’s in everyone’s best interests that these recommendations work perfectly.

And, as an added bonus, applicants who end up applying through a staff referral are often passive applicants rather than active job seekers. So, apart from being a good cultural fit with the right skills for the job, you probably won’t be competing with rivals for their attention and applications.

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