You already know that prospective employees don’t start their job search by looking at the classifieds with a red pen in hand. They’re not even looking at just one online job board—they’re looking at many, bookmarking, comparing, and weighing job listings against one another. HR professionals know all too well that recruitment is more competitive than ever before—and standing out in a sea of similar-sounding jobs can be difficult. This is why every single word in your job description counts. And that all starts with the job title itself. Keep reading to learn how to craft a compelling title and see job title examples.

Why Job Titles Matter

For the applicant, job titles are usually the entry point of the recruitment process. And for some, the first time they ever interact with your brand may be through clicking on your job listing. Job recruitment titles serve an important purpose: they should attract qualified candidates enough to click through to the job listing and be accurate to the role you are hiring for.

While job titles can help you attract the best candidates, it is important to remember they can’t do everything. Jargon and terminology can vary from company to company and industry to industry. A specialist could mean a mid-level employee at one organization and an entry-level role at another. Your job title is the first point to hit; then in the description, you can outline qualifications and expectations to help further contextualize the job title you land on.

Strong Job Title Examples

At this point, it’s pretty clear that crafting a compelling but accurate job title is crucial for finding your ideal candidate. So how do you create a job title with recruitment in mind?

Keep these considerations in mind for a strong job title:

• Keep it simple and straightforward: Use the keywords that your prospects are going to search for. Don’t say “Calendar Whizz” when you simply mean “Project Manager.” It’s good to get creative, particularly if that’s important to the company culture—but save that creativity for the job description.
• Be precise: Simple doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) mean vague. Don’t just say “Product Writer” when you mean “UX Writer (Mobile app).” The more precise you can get with your job title, the more qualified candidates you’ll have in your recruitment pool. It is this level of specificity that usually helps you create a clear and compelling job title.
• Consider the historical context: Is this a new job at the company? Or does it already exist? You may not need to come up with a completely new job title if it’s not a completely new role. Similarly, make sure to look externally as well as internally. Conduct research into the job market to see how your job title stacks up against other recruiters’ job titles.
• And consider compensation: You’re not going to be able to predict every applicants’ salary expectations. But with market research, you should have an understanding of what a competitive salary might be. It’s important that the compensation allotted for the role matches the title.

Take Your Recruitment To The Next Level

You’ve got a strong job title and a compelling description to match. Now what? You don’t just want the words to be effective, you want the listings to be efficient. This is when it’s time to put some dollars behind your job title and build a job advertising campaign. With AI-enabled recruitment software, you can trust that your job title is getting in front of qualified candidates, even if the keywords they’re searching for are slightly different than the ones you chose. Coupling strong job titles with robust recruiting solutions will help you get the most qualified clicks on your job listings.