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January 6, 2014
It's a given that the best candidates need to make a great first impression at an interview—your job title needs to do the same. Here are five tips to help you make better titles for your jobs.
By Angela Rose for BioSpace.com
What’s the first thing a biopharma professional sees when he or she searches for a job? The answer is simple: the title of the job posting. Whether you’re targeting job seekers who are using an Internet search engine or the search tool on a career website such as BioSpace, a clear, concise, and considerate job title is absolutely essential to ensure your listing appears prominently within the search results and encourages candidates to investigate further. Implement the following five rules to achieve both goals easily and effectively.
1. Make keywords a priority.
All search engines—from Google to those specific to individual websites—use keywords to determine the relevance of web-based data to search terms input by users. Identify those that biopharma professionals are most likely to use when searching for a job such as yours and work them into your job title. While you don’t want to stuff in too many, the more matching words your title contains, the higher it will appear in the search results. For example, if a professional types in “logistics analyst in Boston biotech,” a job posting with the title “Biotech Logistics Analyst” will appear before one labeled simply “Logistics Analyst.”
2. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.
Once again, think about the search terms a biotech professional is likely to use. If you use abbreviations or acronyms in your job title in order to save space, your posting may not appear relevant to the search engine. Instead, spell out every word to increase your chances of appearing in search results. For example, use “Senior Quality Assurance Specialist” rather than “Sr. QA Specialist.” Of course, there are exceptions. Phrases including good manufacturing process (GMP) and statistical analysis system (SAS) are better represented with acronyms.
3. Don’t include extraneous information.
Though job seekers certainly care about details such as salary, don’t clutter your job title with this information. Professionals are unlikely to hunt for jobs using those terms, and it may even land your posting lower in returned results. While job seekers often enter geo-location as a search term, for example, “Entry-Level Scientist in Cambridge,” it’s best to leave that detail for the job description as well.
4. Add terms pertaining to the level of experience required.
While it’s important to keep job titles as concise as possible, no one wants to waste time reviewing the CVs of underqualified professionals. Increase the suitability of those who apply by giving some indication of experience required. For example, if you’re looking for a research pathologist with a decade in the industry, you could enter “Senior Research Pathologist” in the title field. Alternatively, if you’re willing to hire recent graduates, you could use “Entry-Level Research Pathologist.”
5. Ensure the job title makes sense to external applicants.
Perhaps your biopharma company uses internal job IDs such as “Senior Manager, Headquarters, 70013944.” This information will only confuse external candidates—and possibly the search engines as well. Keep your job titles clear, concise, and descriptive while considering likely search terms. A better option in the example above would be “Senior Pharmaceutical Manager.”
About the Author
Angela Rose researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for BioSpace.com.
Attract the best candidates with Biospace Job Postings. Post a Job in minutes and find top life science candidates.
Related Biotech Employer/Recruitment Articles
* 5 Keys to Capturing Top Talent
* Employment Offers Candidates Can’t Refuse
* Recruiting Analytics: How Do You Measure Up?
January 6, 2014
It's a given that the best candidates need to make a great first impression at an interview—your job title needs to do the same. Here are five tips to help you make better titles for your jobs.
By Angela Rose for BioSpace.com
What’s the first thing a biopharma professional sees when he or she searches for a job? The answer is simple: the title of the job posting. Whether you’re targeting job seekers who are using an Internet search engine or the search tool on a career website such as BioSpace, a clear, concise, and considerate job title is absolutely essential to ensure your listing appears prominently within the search results and encourages candidates to investigate further. Implement the following five rules to achieve both goals easily and effectively.
1. Make keywords a priority.
All search engines—from Google to those specific to individual websites—use keywords to determine the relevance of web-based data to search terms input by users. Identify those that biopharma professionals are most likely to use when searching for a job such as yours and work them into your job title. While you don’t want to stuff in too many, the more matching words your title contains, the higher it will appear in the search results. For example, if a professional types in “logistics analyst in Boston biotech,” a job posting with the title “Biotech Logistics Analyst” will appear before one labeled simply “Logistics Analyst.”
2. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.
Once again, think about the search terms a biotech professional is likely to use. If you use abbreviations or acronyms in your job title in order to save space, your posting may not appear relevant to the search engine. Instead, spell out every word to increase your chances of appearing in search results. For example, use “Senior Quality Assurance Specialist” rather than “Sr. QA Specialist.” Of course, there are exceptions. Phrases including good manufacturing process (GMP) and statistical analysis system (SAS) are better represented with acronyms.
3. Don’t include extraneous information.
Though job seekers certainly care about details such as salary, don’t clutter your job title with this information. Professionals are unlikely to hunt for jobs using those terms, and it may even land your posting lower in returned results. While job seekers often enter geo-location as a search term, for example, “Entry-Level Scientist in Cambridge,” it’s best to leave that detail for the job description as well.
4. Add terms pertaining to the level of experience required.
While it’s important to keep job titles as concise as possible, no one wants to waste time reviewing the CVs of underqualified professionals. Increase the suitability of those who apply by giving some indication of experience required. For example, if you’re looking for a research pathologist with a decade in the industry, you could enter “Senior Research Pathologist” in the title field. Alternatively, if you’re willing to hire recent graduates, you could use “Entry-Level Research Pathologist.”
5. Ensure the job title makes sense to external applicants.
Perhaps your biopharma company uses internal job IDs such as “Senior Manager, Headquarters, 70013944.” This information will only confuse external candidates—and possibly the search engines as well. Keep your job titles clear, concise, and descriptive while considering likely search terms. A better option in the example above would be “Senior Pharmaceutical Manager.”
About the Author
Angela Rose researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for BioSpace.com.
Attract the best candidates with Biospace Job Postings. Post a Job in minutes and find top life science candidates.
Related Biotech Employer/Recruitment Articles
* 5 Keys to Capturing Top Talent
* Employment Offers Candidates Can’t Refuse
* Recruiting Analytics: How Do You Measure Up?