Job listings are a law firm’s or legal department’s chance to make a great first impression on job candidates. To attract the right candidates, however, the job post needs to both engage and inform.
Here’s how to ensure your job posts are thorough, accurate, and memorable – so that candidates apply with a clear understanding of the position.
Tips for Creating Job Listings
1. Introduce yourself.
Begin a legal industry job posting with two or three sentences that:
- Introduce the law firm or legal department and its key mission, values or goals,
- Introduce the most essential part of the job itself,
- Connect the work to the organization’s core mission.
By starting a job posting in this manner, you show immediately how the work is important. You also help candidates visualize themselves in the actual job. Candidates who like what they see are more likely to apply.
2. Get to the essentials.
Ever read a resume that read like a to-do list of duties? If so, you may have learned a great deal about what the candidate was assigned to do, but not what they did.
Long lists of job requirements in a job posting have the same effect on candidates: They learn what they’ll be expected to do, but not why it matters.
Instead, center the description of the work itself around three to five key goals or achievements that you expect the person in this position to accomplish. Tie these into the work of the organization as a whole where appropriate. For instance, you might discuss the research requirements expected of legal assistants, then mention how this research helps the team fully understand clients’ legal issues and provide the best possible representation.
3. When in doubt, get a second opinion.
Recruiters analyze job postings regularly. As a result, they know what works in a legal industry job post to attract candidates and what doesn’t. Before you send a job posting into the world, ask your staffing partner to review it and provide feedback.
At Kent Legal, our recruiters work with law firms and legal departments throughout the greater Toronto area. We can help you attract better candidates, streamline your hiring process, and think strategically about long-term staffing. Contact us today to learn more.