Clear Job Titles: Key to Effective Recruitment - by AcademicJobs.com

Recruiters often fail to create effective job advertisements due to unclear job titles. According to Jarrod Kanizay, clear and illustrative job titles are essential for attracting the right candidates and being easily discoverable. Vague titles like "Professor" or "Dean" are ineffective marketing and are likely to be overlooked by search engines and job seekers. Kanizay advises that job postings should always include the specific area of expertise or department within the job title, such as "Professor in Biomedicine." This specificity significantly improves visibility on job boards and search results, ensuring that the advertisements reach their target audience. Ultimately, well-crafted job titles are critical for maximizing the pool of potential candidates.

"What recruiters get wrong in writing job advertisements- the lack of a clear job titles. illustrative job titles on job advertisements are crucial" by Jarrod Kanizay (CEO of AcademicJobs.com)

Job Advertisements as Marketing Campaigns: Kanizay strongly asserts that a job advertisement is fundamentally a marketing campaign that requires clarity and directness to be successful. He states, "Understand one thing in posting a job ad anywhere… your job ad is a marketing campaign. It should be clear and to the point. Never cryptic or cloudy!" This perspective shifts the focus from simply listing a vacancy to actively attracting the right individuals.

The Failure of Generic Job Titles: The author argues that using broad and unspecific job titles like "Dean," "Professor," "Lecturer," or "Research Assistant" is a significant mistake. These titles lack the necessary detail to be effectively indexed by search engines (like Google) and do not resonate with candidates searching for specific roles within their field. Kanizay explicitly states, "Put simply, it is a waste of money to have a job ad anywhere if you’re going to have a job title that just says ‘Dean’ or ‘Professor’ or ‘Lecturer’ or ‘Research Assistant’. It will get passed over by Google, and those people searching for a job in their field."

The Influence of HR Forms and Prescribed Job Descriptions: Kanizay suggests that a contributing factor to these vague titles is the reliance on standardized Human Resources job forms, where the primary title might be generic, with the specific department listed elsewhere. He notes, "So many recruiters, or administration people loading jobs onto job boards are simply following the prescribed ‘job description’ which follows the Human Resources job form where the title may well say (just) ‘Professor’ and another field reads ‘department of Law’."

The Necessity of Specificity in Job Titles: To rectify this issue, Kanizay strongly recommends adding the specific area of expertise or department/faculty to the job title. He provides a clear directive: "identify any job title that says (just) ‘Professor’, then I need them to add in what the specialty is into the job title (ie. Biomedicine). So the job title will then be: ‘Professor in Biomedicine’."

Clarity for Job Seekers: Clear job titles directly benefit job seekers by making it easier for them to identify relevant opportunities. Vague titles create confusion and require candidates to sift through numerous listings that may not align with their expertise.

Mitigating Candidate Loss: Kanizay concludes by highlighting the significant negative impact of unclear job titles on candidate attraction, stating, "An appropriate job title sets up your job listing. Is you get it wrong then you will lose 50% of your potential candidates instantly."

By treating job ads as marketing campaigns and optimizing job titles for search engine visibility and candidate clarity, organizations can significantly improve their ability to attract the right talent and maximize their recruitment investment. Always include the specialty or relevant department/faculty within the job title itself.