When you’re not seeing an inbox full of applications to your sales job description, you might be surprised that no one is responding, or you’re not getting as many responses as you wanted.
If you’re not getting the warm reception to your sales job description that you expected, there is clearly a problem.
And one of the reasons below might be the issue that you need to fix.
Your sales job could be the best in the world, but if you didn’t look over your description or get it proofread, you could have accidentally left in some bad spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. Job seekers checking out your ad could be put off by these errors. These mistakes can lower your credibility and hurt your reputation.
Unfortunately, unfair working arrangements and job scams are rampant on the internet, and job seekers are wise enough to stay clear of any job posting that seems too sketchy. If your sales job description seems too vague, it might seem like you’re holding back important details about the position or your company, and job seekers will move on to the next posting without hesitation.
You’re passionate about your sales team and your company as a whole, but if you go overboard with sensationalism in your sales job description, you’re not going to get the response that you hope for. Saying that your company is the best, that the position is amazing, or that the perks are magnificent just doesn’t ring true, and these adjectives just don’t communicate much real meaning. Instead, stick to objective success measures.
It happens: sometimes you need a new sale person immediately, and you don’t have time to waste. You want to set up interviews right away, so you only give interested job seekers a few days to reply. Unfortunately, not everyone checks for new employment vacancies every single day, and you could be missing out on some great applicants by giving too short of a timeframe for applications.
The most serious job seekers will do their due diligence and research your company before applying. If your online reputation is less than stellar, if you have an outdated, terrible website, or if your online presence is non-existent, many qualified candidates will move on without applying.
So you try to grab attention by creating a cool job title, like “sales guru” or “sales rock star.” You want to sound fun and youthful. Unfortunately, this could be the reason why no one is responding to your sales job description. When job seekers are interested in a particular type of employment opportunity, they’ll search for common keywords, like “sales professional” or “sales representative.” They’re not going to respond because your creative title won’t show up in their searches.
There are certain pieces of information that job seekers will look for in a sales job description, and if you’re not adding them, you’re going to lose out on great candidates. Instead of going on and on about your company’s achievements and awards, spend more time telling job seekers what they really want to hear: such as sales compensation, location, permanent versus contract status, and role.
Sure, it’s nice to think that you’re going to find the exact right person, with all of the experience, skills, and qualities that you’re looking for. But that’s just not realistic—that person might not be out there. By describing your ideal sales person and all of the skills that person must have, you could get great candidates pre-screening themselves out of the running.
Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.