Are You Applying for the Wrong Jobs?

Marcianne Kuethen

May 21, 2013

One of the reasons employers use Amtec’s service of providing top talent is that our recruiters really take time to understand the requirements of the open position before submitting any candidates. Apparently, candidates, when you are conducting your own job search, you may not be as thorough in assessing what makes a good match.

You may remember that we posted results about eye-tracking research that showed the pattern for how recruiters read resumes. Well, that same eye-tracking research has been applied to watching employed participants read job postings. Even though they were given as much time as they needed, the study showed that they were only able to identify which jobs were a good fit 38% of the time.

So, job seekers, what’s the moral of the story? Slow down and read the requirements of the position, not just the job title and name of the company! It’s better to spend a few minutes reading the full job posting than to spend an hour applying for a job for which you’re not a good fit!

What can employers and HR professionals learn from this eye-tracking study? When you’re recruiting qualified candidates, write a thorough job posting, but use the three or four most important factors you want to communicate in the first overview paragraph or two. Job seekers under pressure are obviously on overload and in a hurry, so if you want to grab the attention of truly qualified workers, you’ll need to make it easy for them to see at a glance what you need from them. For specific advice on how to write a solid job posting, click here.

Article originally published on businessinsider.com by Vivian Giang.