Creating Your Job Ad Title

I'd like to throw this out based upon what I've seen on MFI, but also ask for Larry's input on the matter!

When writing an employment ad, I've noticed that very few take much time with the title itself. It tends to be very basic and to the point. For example, an employment ad about a "property manager" will often just say "Property Manager", which doesn't do much to entice the job hunter. But on the other side of the coin, I understand the constraints of space, and that you can't make it too wordy. So I'd like to hear everybody's opinion on how to construct the title of an employment ad!

Ad title is probably not as important as noting qualifications required, not that they pay any attention to them either. Posted an ad for a Experienced Property Manager on an Internet site for a property in Melbourne, FL. Stated I needed someone with more than 2 years previous experience as a manager for an apartment community of over 200 apartments. We will discuss more in the near future about what should be placed in an ad to get the best results.

True numbers: Received 167 resumes of which 23 met the criteria.

I'm almost at the point where instead of forwarding a resume just send me a psychological profile first, then I may request a resume. It is an excellent question and one I am asked quite often.

Brent,

When I am writing my ad's I use basic titles that are often used on resumes. Search agents will not help the candidates find your ad if it is too outside the box i.e. Lifestyle consultant vs. Leasing Consultant.

Good point Shelby. We can call it what we want such as Leasing Consultant, Leasing Specialists, Lifestyle Consultant, Leasing Agent, etc. Guess it all boils down to making sure the word "leasing" is in there so the search has a chance to find the basic title. It's like I heard someone that prevously would have been called a garbage collector has the title of a santation engineer.

Thanks for the responses, Larry and Shelby. And just to clarify, I wasn't talking about the position name (i.e., "Leasing Consultant"), but rather the title of the ad itself. So Shelby, I agree with you 100% that for search sake, having a position name that doesn't match expectations will limit results. But my question is whether there is potential for the rest of the ad title.

And Larry, you make a great point about people ignoring the qualifications. But ultimately, it doesn't hurt them to go ahead and send it in, so it doesn't surprise me. Unfortunately, it is a huge waste of time for the hiring manager...