Last week, many of us listened, asked questions, and tweeted with the #betterjobs hashtag as David Clark, senior manager of product operations and job optimization at CareerBuilder, and Victor Gipson, manager for client support, shared their insights and tips on how hiring managers can create and enhance their job postings for search engine optimization (findability) and context (more compelling and clear content) in CareerBuilder’s “Creating Effective Job Postings that Attract the Best Talent.” Below, I’ve rounded up some of the webinar’s best recommendations.

Did you know?

• The average job seeker spends less than 30 seconds reviewing a job posting.
• In a 2011 survey, 75 percent of job seekers said the look and feel of a job ad influenced their decision to apply to a job.

Clarks’s Top Tips:

• Create an advertisement, not a legal document — many job descriptions are passed down from year to year without thought, and necessary changes and updates aren’t made.
• Many companies still don’t make a point to make an aesthetically pleasing ad — but remember, you don’t have a lot of time to make a good impression on candidates
• Put the most important information upfront in your job posting.
• Unconventional job titles confuse people. If wacky job titles are the norm at your company, that’s great — but highlight that within the body copy, not in the job title of your job posting.
• Search engines will return the most relevant results for a job seeker’s search terms. Put yourself in the mind of a job seeker, and try to use words you think they would use to search for your job.
• Don’t overuse the same terms in your job posting — search engines will see this is a red flag.
• Tell a story with your job posting (about who you are, what it takes to be successful at your company, or what you have to offer employees) — it helps to get job seekers interested in the position.
• Break out the hard versus soft skills in terms of job requirements in your job posting.
• Advertise not just the job and the role itself, but also your company culture and benefits — these are the things that will make an employee want to stay at your company.

Gipson also shared some best practices for job posting screener questions on the webinar, which include:

• Screeners work well when you’re receiving too many applicants, when applicants are not meeting your listed job requirements, or when you need to capture EEO information.
• Free form questions enable candidates to give a more detailed response, though they’re not able to be scored.
• Multiple choice questions are best for when you’re looking for a more specific response. They can be scored.
• On your CareerBuilder Job Postings, you can select account-level, job-level, or EEO-level screeners, depending on your need.
• A few examples of screener questions: “Do you have a college degree?”; “Do you have reliable transportation?”; or “Describe your past work experience.”

Missed the webinar and want to watch and listen to it in full? Catch all of Clark and Gipson’s excellent advice for a better job application process here.