How to Create a Job Post that Attracts Caregivers
Prioritizing Caregivers Starts From your Initial Job Post
Many employers overlook the importance of writing well-crafted job postings when recruiting caregivers. Yet crafting effective job postings is vital to attracting qualified applicants who will actually show up to their interviews.
As an agency owner, you need to prioritize both caregivers & clients from your first encounter with them. Yet, most agencies only focus on the clients when it comes to the external representation of their agency. From the first encounter, potential applicants have with your business, to the last encounter. Creating a balance where both your caregivers & clients are put first, is vital to the longevity of your business.
Let’s start with the foundation of understanding the difference between a caregiver job description and a caregiver job posting. Whether or not you use the two terms interchangeably, it’s important to know the difference.
What is a Job Description?
A job description is an internal document used to thoroughly define the job duties an employee would be handling. This sets the foundation of your expectations for the employee’s work performance. This usually is a compliance form that HR files once the hiring manager & employee signs their onboarding paperwork. Most job descriptions are not pleasing to the eye, use legal jargon, and are lengthy, granular, and static.
What is a Job Post?
A job post is a hybrid of marketing your agency while also setting the correct worker expectations that are defined in your job description. Job posts are more dynamic, they include images, videos, employee testimonials, and more. You are introducing your agency and describing a current open role in a more digestible, enticing, and short format. Throughout this job post, you want the application to feel “invited” to join your agency, so make sure they are formatted to be inclusive.
Now that we know the difference between a “Job description” & “Job Post”. Let’s cover how to create an optimized job post that attracts caregivers.
Keep Your Job Post Clear and Succinct
When searching for a job, most applicants take a quick glance at the job post. They don't want to spend time delving into every aspect of the posting when there's no guarantee it is an offer they would be interested in pursuing.
Craft a job post that is direct and straightforward; one which prospective caregivers can easily comprehend and quickly access the information they need to know. Doing so will not only help your recruiter save time, but also boost the chances of your agency receiving quality applications.
When creating a job posting, it is critical to ensure the language used is easy to understand and free of any confusing abbreviations or jargon. This is especially true when hiring a caregiver, as applicants may be unable to decipher unfamiliar terms and feel inadequate for the role. As a result, they may decide not to apply and your organization will miss out on a potentially great candidate.
Optimize The Position Title
The applicant's first impression of your job posting is the job title they see when they are scrolling on job boards to determine whether they click <apply> or <view more>.
Stay away from titles such as
<Agency Name> Hiring Caregivers
Currently seeking HCA’s & IHSS Caregivers
Home Care Aide needed! Apply Now!
Monday-Friday Overnight Caregiver Needed!
I know it is tempting to add hours, pay, schedules, and bonuses in your job post title, but this is doing more harm than good. Keep your title recognizable and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) keyword-friendly.
Use keywords you know candidates will be searching for when writing your job title and entire job posting. SEO is essential to your recruitment process because millions of people search for millions of keywords every day. In fact, the google search term “caregiver jobs near me” has doubled from 2018 to 2023, according to google trends. While it can be important to stand out and be unique, it actually helps more to concentrate on basic, searchable titles and phrases for SEO purposes.
Create a Concise Overview of The Position and Benefits
It is essential to provide an overview of the primary responsibilities, skills, experience, and expectations. This will serve two purposes:
Outlining your agency's prerequisites
Assist unqualified applicants to self-disqualify
Encouraging qualified applicants to continue in the process
Keep this information in quick bullet points. This way, the applicant perceives this section of the job posts as a “checklist” to see if they are qualified. Use strong action verbs to help the applicant paint a picture and envision themselves performing these duties. You want to bring excitement to the applicant where they are confident and comfortable providing the job duties you outline.
(Note: If you are an agency that offers to pay for caregivers' California HCA registration (or other state credentialing), highlight this in your prerequisite section. This way, they are not self-disqualifying themselves before they get to these benefits at a lower point of your job post.)
The primary goal of this section is to entice potential applicants to continue reading and, ultimately, submit an application by making them feel like they are a part of something bigger; the post should allow them to visualize the impact their role could have. While you must include information about the role's requirements and logistics, your primary focus should be on persuasive content that inspires potential applicants.
Using a summary, briefly explain how the caregiver's meaningful work will improve the lives of the clients and their families and have a positive impact on both the client and the agency. As they read the job posting, your summary needs to elicit an emotional response from them, giving them the impression that they are already having an impact on people's lives.
Instead of assuming that caregivers will immediately recognize the value of working for you, thoroughly consider and describe all of the advantages of working for your agency as a caregiver in this section. Another way to get potential candidates excited and motivated to apply is to include the position's benefits, such as the following:
Mileage reimbursement
HCA registry reimbursement
Paid Ongoing education
Career advancement opportunities (Become a CNA)
Pro tip: don’t be the employer that showcases benefits on your job post when you have < 1% of your existing staff eligible to claim these benefits. Example of this: Posting a part-time position that showcases benefits that ONLY full-time employees can claim.
Here’s an example of a nice job posting that we’ve used with candidates:
Highlight Your Home Care Agency
Introduce your agency to the applicant. Now, don’t just copy and paste your “about” section from your website onto this job post. It is vital to create a personal summary that speaks directly and clearly to your target audience. Include the following:
Brief background of your agency (Especially if you are family owned and operated)
Your values, mission, and goals
Your background in the senior care industry
This gives potential candidates an idea of the morals and beliefs of the home care agency, which they can use to determine whether or not they share. Caregivers who are motivated by the values of your company will work harder and be more likely to stay with your company for the long run.
Highlight Your Team
Home Care is a high-touch industry, and most of us are in this industry due to our own personal experience. Whether that be family caregivers, supporting our community, affinity towards the elderly, etc. Every caregiver wants to feel valued and a part of a team. If they see you showcasing your existing staff, they will feel more inclined to apply since they know their hard work will be showcased as well.
Don’t shy away from painting a picture for potential applicants using your existing staff's testimonials. This is an easy opportunity to create a story where caregivers can envision themselves in the other person's shoes. This also helps create a connection to your company's culture, where they can view the personality and character traits a successful candidate has.
Only Have One Call To Action
Applying and filling out job applications is daunting for any applicant. As a recruiter, you need to make it as easy as possible for caregiver applicants to apply but still while collecting the necessary information to quickly qualify or disqualify.
HubSpot defines a call-to-action (CTA) as: “...The part of the webpage, advertisement or piece of content that encourages the audience to do something.” Presenting multiple CTAs for caregivers causes confusion in the applicant's eyes and creates inconsistencies in the recruitment process.
Only provide one call to action. Keep it clear and simple. Stay away from CTA’s such as:
Call ### to learn more
Email XYZ to learn more
Text ### to apply
Go to XYZ to apply
The best method is simply using a <Apply now> button where qualified applicants can self-schedule an interview if they’re qualified.
Make sure that all applicants are directed to the same application source (Landing page, website, application link) to complete their application, even if you are posting on multiple job boards such as Indeed, Facebook, Craigslist, and Google jobs. This mitigates the risk of your agency needing the applicant to re-apply elsewhere to ensure you are collecting the right information from the applicant prior to inviting them to interview.
If a caregiver connects with you and their application process is simple, the highest-quality caregivers will not be able to send in their applications fast enough!
Lastly, Check Your Grammar & Share it With Your Colleagues
No one likes to see grammatical errors when reading a job post. It shows the applicant that there is a lack of professionalism, care, and due diligence. Look into using Grammarly, this simple tool helps mitigate this risk of errors.
We suggest that you have at least 2-3 eyes reading your job post before posting it publicly. This way, you are able to understand how it is perceived by readers and get honest feedback from your peers. If possible, try to see if you can have one of your caregiver employees read this job post and ask them if they would apply to this job post.
In conclusion, you can increase the number of caregivers applying to your agency in a variety of ways, but there is no one-size-fits-all method for doing so. One fundamental – but crucial – strategy for elevating your recruitment efforts is to write better job postings.
Spend some time researching your target audience so you can learn about their goals and aspirations, what makes them tick, and what they might feel is missing from their lives. The importance of knowing your target audience and speaking directly to them cannot be overstated.
Be careful when writing job postings that appeal to emotions because it is very common for people to buy into feelings before they rationalize with logic. When potential candidates read your job postings, you want to not only make them feel emotion but also inspire them to apply.
Best of luck in writing a new job post or tweaking a pre-existing one. You got this!
