Job posts are advertisements for talent. In today’s talent marketplace, mobile dominates. This means brevity may determine whether you successfully hire or not. Meaning, your long job posts can drag down your hiring performance. We get it. It can be tempting to include every detail. But the truth is, that long job posts can be a major obstacle to attracting top and inclusive talent. Lengthy posts can overwhelm candidates and reduce your chances of finding the right fit.
In this post, we’ll explore the four common pitfalls that lead to long job posts and offer practical tips for creating more effective, engaging job posts.
4 problems with long job posts
It can be deceivingly easy to add detail to the job post. It feels smart to be precise about important specifics, but there’s a cost to every additional word. To balance that detail, consider the implications of a long job post.
1. Lower candidate attention spans
A survey by The Ladders found that jobseekers spend an average of just 49 seconds reading a job ad before deciding whether to apply. This equates to about 100 to 150 words—far less than the average job ad, which often exceeds 600 words. In fact, 30% of job posts exceed 1,000 words. This extra length can turn off qualified candidates who don’t want to sift through unnecessary information.
2. Rise of one-click apply
Over the past five years, we have seen a dramatic shift to one-click applications. Job search engines like Indeed and LinkedIn, as well as AI-based tools, have made it easier for candidates to one-click apply. However, studies have shown that when job posts exceed 600 words, the number of one-click-apply candidates rises. These applicants tend to be less qualified, having applied without thoroughly reading the job description. This forces recruiters to spend hours filtering through unqualified resumes, which leads to inefficiencies.
3. Poor candidate experience
Over 60% of candidates are viewing your job on a mobile device. The vast majority are viewing it, and even applying to it, via a job search engine, not on your well-designed careers page. Long job posts, stripped of formatting and visual cues, can appear overwhelming on mobile screens. Given that candidates are likely skimming through numerous job ads for the right fit, an overly long post can result in a poor experience, causing them to skip your listing entirely.
4. More content = less attractive
Effective job ads require editing. To help, consider embracing a guide, such as Datapeople’s effective job post guide. Excessive length can lead to ambiguity, and confusion, and may even introduce exclusionary content. Long job posts can unintentionally alienate candidates from diverse backgrounds, creating a less welcoming and less attractive job opportunity. Moreover, this behavior can exacerbate the confidence gap, as underrepresented groups—particularly women—are more likely to apply only when they meet most or all of the requirements. This can skew your candidate pool and reduce diversity.
Long job posts do more harm than good
Long job posts are bad for both attracting and engaging qualified, diverse candidates. By keeping job ads concise and focused, you can significantly improve your inclusion, reduce unqualified applications, and provide a better candidate experience.
By addressing these issues, recruiters and hiring managers can make job ads more effective and inclusive while saving time in the hiring process.
Shorten overly long job posts
The work to shorten long job posts doesn’t have to be difficult. As we outline in our blog, there are 5 Easy Ways to Shorten Your Job Post. Want to avoid long job posts before they start? Consider a Talent Acquisition platform like Datapeople.
Here’s how Datapeople helps your team hire target talent by nipping long job posts before they start.
Style and Policy Guides
Tailoring your Policy Guide and Style Guide will lock in your company and regulatory standards. Standards will be systematically applied in the Datapeople Smart Editor. Our writing experience will seamlessly coach and upskill your team. They will more consistently write compelling, high-quality jobs that are shorter and more accessible.
Pre-built templates
Save time and resources with pre-approved templates that lock in your EVP and hiring best practices. Craft instructions and lock down sections to ensure writers focus on embracing your standardized job post vision. Ensure templates and expert guidance are available everywhere your team works, including your ATS, with Datapeople Anywhere.
High-quality job posts
Focus your writers’ energy on improving, not creating job characteristics. Our talent acquisition-trained assistive intelligence in Datapeople First Draft provides your team the support they need, without pulling them out of the loop. They will have everything they need to augment their writing and craft jobs that are effective and inclusive in minutes.
Real-time reporting
Find the rare long job post that sneaks through, immediately. Identify other optimizations with ease with our real-time analytics. Datapeople Insights offers one-click access to robust reporting and insights that will make your data-driven hiring dream an impactful reality.
The work to avoid overly long job posts can be challenging, but the positive impacts make it crucial to address. Instead of removing words, do you want to avoid all of them in the first place? Reach out and inquire about what Datapeople could look like in your organization!
