Elevated HR Solutions: Titles and Job Postings - Is there something in a name?

When it comes to developing a job posting and asking the question "Does title matter?" it's akin to asking "Does size matter?" The answer is obvious - of course it does!

Here's why:

1.) When people have finally made the decision to start looking for a job, and become an active job seeker rather than a passive job seeker, they go to job sites and start their search.  The process is simple: They log onto their search engine or the job site in general and type in the position they are seeking.  Initially, the company is not what is important -- they are simply searching for the position that matches their skill sets (fun, innovative companies come second in terms of who they apply to).

2.) People that are currently in junior to intermediate roles are looking for a specific role (typically, a step up).  They rarely will take a step down or a step laterally (unless the company they work for is absolutely awful).  Most job seekers are looking for that next step in their growth or development.  So if they are currently an associate, an advisor, a coordinator etc. they will automatically skim past those same positions posted even if it is a senior position for the company who has posted it.

3.) Anything that asks for more than 5 years of experience IS a senior role which demands higher compensation, higher education and more responsibility.  If the position is titled incorrectly, a lower calibre resume will come in for the role causing more work for the recruiting team.  Being concise with titles in the job description in comparison to market will help all recruitment efforts.

4.) Even if the title is different internally (for example, one of my clients call their executive assistants "Intuitive Support" (which is awesome)) they certainly didn't post it as such on the job sites.  They did explain however in the interview that they like to get creative with titles and that it most likely would switch should the candidate accept the position.  

At the end of the day - if you want people to find your posting and have the RIGHT people apply for your role, it has to be easy to search for (in terms of key words).  If you have a quirky organization, you can describe that with the design and the words you choose to define the position.  But the first goal is reaching the right people.

I'd love to say that I do something different than support "Human Resources" but if I told a potential client that I support "Mortal Assets" (the thesaurus at it's best), they probably would think I was on crack or about to release a take on a famous video game from the early '90's.

http://www.elevatedhr.com/