Implementing an SEO job posting strategy, such as targeting career keywords, is integral to getting your listings noticed by the right candidates. Indeed.com released the top ten career keywords listed in online job postings last week.  Career keywords contained within job postings are extremely important.  A component of SEO or search engine optimization, these keywords aid in job seekers finding your job postings listed within career sites, social networks, job board aggregators, and online job postings.

Career Keywords and Online Job Boards

I first wrote about SEO as an effective strategy for companies to increase exposure of their job postings when I discussed the future of job boards as an effective method for sourcing, recruiting, and finding top talent.  My thoughts on the subject haven’t changed.  It just complicates matters as the war for talent continues to be a concern for companies even with the high current 8.6% unemployment rate.  This is because job seekers are becoming increasingly savvy in their job search going beyond basic job board search and looking to search engines, social media, as well as job board aggregators to find and apply for jobs.

Interestingly enough, the top 10 most popular career keywords for online job postings were extremely targeted and not the typical “receptionist” or “engineer” job titles or “MBA” qualifications you might expect.

HTML5

MongoDB

IOS

Android

Mobile App

Puppet

Hadoop

jQuery

Paas

Social Media

The Importance of Industry Specific Keywords in Recruiting

In looking at these 10 job keywords, you can easily tell that they cater to a very specific mostly technical audience.  This is likely not to change because the war for talent is already being waged with industry specific keywords in Silicon Valley and other parts of the world where extremely specific, technical, and skilled developers, designers, and engineers are in high demand.  But for the average company based in Middle America (where I live), it’s likely a different story.

I was also surprised that no healthcare jobs or related keywords did not make the top 10 list.  This industry is growing and in high demand despite the economy.  Jobs in pharmacy, doctors, and nurses are easy to come by and recruiters are aggressively targeted qualified candidates.

As a recruiter who is considering adding SEO and targeted industry specific keywords as part of their recruiting and online posting process in 2012 and beyond, it’s important to complete a thorough evaluation.  Keyword targeting is no different for me as a HR blogger or while you, as a recruiter are adding industry specific keywords and combinations to your job postings and landing pages.  The main difference is as a HR blogger, I have the opportunity to blog 5 times on the same topic within a short period of time to increase my page ranking say for the words “social media discrimination.”  That means you have to make your career keywords count and consider creative alternatives to help drive the right candidate traffic to your job opening without attracting those who are unqualified who have a habit of bottlenecking the hiring process not only for themselves but also for everyone else.

Implementing and SEO Strategy for Recruiting

If I was developing a SEO strategy for recruiting for a mass hire position or one I post frequently, I would consider the following keyword combinations and alternatives:

Listing Your Position Title plus the City.  What I mean by this is “call center jobs in Austin, TX.”  You may just want to consider employing a PPC or pay per click strategy depending on your competition and your rank within the search engine pages.

Include Qualifications In Your Keyword Combinations.  Much like the Android and IOS keywords that Indeed found to be popular, you can include qualifications like “Masters Degree Safety Engineer Jobs” in your job keywords.

Target a Specific Audience by Providing Value.  This is also an effective strategy.  Value-based articles and tips are shared as well, have great staying power and are frequently reposted on social networks.  An article that includes links to specific company landing pages within your Careers Sites with a call to action for interested job seekers can be effective.  One idea might be “5 Ways to Find a Retail Pharmacy Job.”

With any SEO strategy, it’s not a science but there is an established method to the madness.  To be effective, it’s important to conduct a complete career keyword and SEO analysis with your specific target market in mind.  It makes the process go much more smoothly making your job as a recruiter or hiring manager so much easier.