By Neal Glatt

As the Spring rush continues, my social media feeds have been a constant stream of job advertisements from landscaping companies across the country.  Unfortunately, most of them are terribly written and certainly have little impact on potential job seekers.  If you’re struggling to get quality applicants to respond to your job postings, the problem probably is…

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Most job advertisements I see are a list of demands that only serve to scare off potential applicants:  “You must be responsible.”  “You must have a driver’s license.” “You must have three year’s experience.” “You must have a great attitude.” “You must be willing to work a difficult and physically demanding job in hot conditions with unreasonable time pressure for limited pay.”
Ok, perhaps the last example is exaggerated.  But it’s certainly what job seekers feel after reading the majority of job advertisements posted by landscaping companies.  
Imagine if customer advertisements were written the same way: “You must pay on time or we’ll charge interest fees and harass you.” “You must spend more than is necessary for this service because we have new equipment.”  “You must not contact us with excessive requests.”   
We would never do this because it’s totally ridiculous and would lead to no responses.  Yet, these are all true expectations for many companies.  Instead, we focus on what customers want to hear, the things that motivate them to buy, and then discuss the actual expectations later.
Job postings need to do the same.  What matters most to job seekers?  For one, the difference that a company makes.  How does our work enhance the life of a customer for the better?  How does our work benefit the planet?  How does our company contribute to a better society? 
Perhaps you can tout how working in the green industry promotes sustainable ecosystems that we all need to survive.  Or the fact that people are healthier, happier, and likely to live longer when they are near living plants.  Or maybe your company hires a diverse workforce and provides job opportunities to those who otherwise would struggle to be employed.
Or try discussing the growth opportunities at your company.  Employees want to feel like they are learning and advancing within their roles.  Companies which promote in-field cross-training and soft skills development, like management training, find that they not only attract more employees but keep them longer while continually building them up.  According to Gallup surveys, the number one factor that employees are seeking in a job is growth and development opportunities, not pay and benefits.
Of course, there’s more to the perfect job posting than just purpose and growth.  Fortunately, we’ve built a whole course on Recruiting Job Applicants, which is offered FREE thanks to our friends at Team Engine.  It’s time to make your job ads be awesome to get the response needed for your company to succeed.