When preparing your job ad do you think about your intention and strategy? Do you consider whether you want your ad to attract a broad candidate supply with relatable skills or candidates that possess very specific abilities? Do you think about words and phrases your target candidates may be searching for when looking for job openings?

The answers to these questions can determine how your job is listed. If you want your ad to attract a large candidate supply that has related skills, keep the job title general. To figure out what title to use, look at what other employers name similar jobs. We examined the most commonly advertised job titles for the Public Relations occupation and found Marketing Coordinator to be the most used title for this profession. Below are the job titles that are commonly used and the number of ads that currently refer to them, based on data from WANTED Analytics. 

Most In-Demand Job Titles for Public Relations Specialist

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

Also consider that there may be more competition in search engines for popular terms and keywords like Marketing Coordinator. If you want to narrow your focus and attract highly specialized talent, you can emphasize a particular skill set in the title. Marketing communications, Adobe Photoshop, and social media platform are the most frequently advertised skills in Public Relations Specialist job ads. If social media happens to be essential for your position, you can include this in your job title. Below are commonly used job titles for Public Relations Specialists with social media platform skills. After Intern Social Media, Social Media Specialist and Social Media Coordinator are listed most often in job ads.

Most In-Demand Job Titles for Public Relations Specialists with Social Media Skills

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

If social media, is absolutely essential for the position, include that in your title. But remember, a specific title will reduce the candidate supply. There are 234,000 candidates currently in the US workforce that are Public Relations Specialists. Of those 9% are Marketing Coordinators and 1% are Social Media Specialists.

When you choose a title, also consider which phrases your ideal candidates are likely to search. Job seekers commonly search by the job title and the location, like ‘Social Media Jobs in New York.’ When typing the job description you may want to include a sentence in your job description that includes those keywords to improve SEO. Perhaps mention something like: “The ABC Company provides growth [or relocation] opportunities for those interested in social media jobs in New York.” When evaluating results in Google Trends, we noticed that job seekers also search ‘Jobs in [and the skill set or field]’. In this instance, you can include a sentence saying something similar to “The ABC Company provides exciting opportunities for jobs in social media."

Do your current open job ads include specific terms in the title or are they more general? 

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Ashley Zito Rowe writes for the WANTED Analytics blog, Analysis, and her wine blog, NJ Wine with Me. Ashley’s articles and insight have been featured on or cited by Forbes, HR.com, ERE, American Staffing Association, Philly.com, GetOutsideNJ, and Hometown Quarterly. She is also a Marketing Manager for WANTED Analytics, focusing on customer and social media engagement. When Ashley isn’t researching hiring trends or drinking NJ wines, she’s likely to be adventuring somewhere in NJ, painting something, or watching Disney movies.