Alexandra Petrini, Director of Marketing at OneWire

I know what you’re thinking. Could small tweaks really impact the number of applications I get? Yes, they can! We’ve helped a number of our clients rework their job descriptions to improve their applicant numbers and even small changes can produce big results. Every aspect of your job description can impact your application rate. Job title, formatting, length, content. Everything.

So let’s start from the top – the job title.

• Is it clear and concise?
• Is it commonly used?
• Does it describe the candidates your looking for?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it’s time to make some changes. Job titles should be a few words long and include the keywords that candidates would be using to search for your job. For example, “Investment Banking Analyst” would perform better than “Analyst – IBD Energy”. You have plenty of room in the description to elaborate on the division or team this role would be working in.

Next up – the formatting of your job post. Job descriptions should be easy to read. Think bullets, bolding, headers. Although it’s not ideal, you need to cater to the “skim” readers that only spend a few seconds on job descriptions before deciding to apply. Take a look at Point72’s jobs for some great examples. They even include color to make their descriptions pop!

Just like reading long articles, long job descriptions are a pain to get through. Appcast studied over 400,000 job seekers to see how job description length impacted overall application numbers. They concluded that click-to-applies are up to five times higher for job descriptions between 2,000 to 10,000 characters. If you’re over the 10,000 mark, cut down on excessive information that’s not directly related to the role. Instead, focus on the important elements of the job description to keep it short and sweet.

So, what are the most important parts of your job description? Here’s a formula I like to share with clients when they need to tweak the content of their job post.

Job Title

A short 2-4 sentence overview of the role. For example, we are hiring an experienced associate to join our capital markets team in Dallas, TX. And then include a sentence about why this associate role is unique. As an associate at our firm, you’ll be exposed to full deal transactions and a small, inclusive team.

Responsibilities

–  Bullets about what the job entails

Requirements

–  Bullets about who you’re looking for

About Your Company

I always recommend putting your company description at the end of the job description. A short paragraph about who you are, what you do, and if you have room, explain your work culture.

Tweaking these aspects of your job post can work wonders if you’re struggling to get applicants. As long as every part of your post is accurate, clear and concise, you’ll be able to attract the talent you need.

Still struggling to find the right people? Post your job on OneWire to reach a diverse community of over half a million finance professionals. This post originally appeared on the OneWire Resources blog.