Employers should consider adding images to their job postings because of the extensive benefits. The benefits of adding images to job descriptions range from being more personable to showcasing work culture. Including images in job descriptions is considered a positive job marketing technique, especially with new generation workers who are online more and who frequently engage in photo sharing.

According to a survey conducted by softwareadvice.com, the top five visual subjects job seekers desired to see were: company products/services, other employees, workplace look and feel, workers enjoying job perks, and company awards/recognitions. According to the study, showcasing company products/services was the number one visual content future employers would like to see.

With more businesses having an online presence, employers are turning to creative job marketing techniques to recruit new talent. Some of these techniques include adding visuals in job descriptions. Adding visuals in job descriptions can include adding memes, stock photos, or unique images pertaining to the workplace. Employers should consider using this marketing strategy to keep up with the competition. Since it is becoming more popular amongst businesses, it is wise to follow the crowd.

Most job seekers spend thirty seconds on a job posting before going to the next one. This means that employers have a short amount of time to gain and keep the attention of a potential candidate. A background screening company called EBI studied web reports and found that job postings need to be scannable because the job description is usually skimmed by readers.

According to a study by CareerBuilder, when a job post contains a video, the application rate of potential candidates goes up by 34 percent.

Seeming more personable can be a strategy for an employer. When a personal image is shown online in the vast sea of the internet, the way to stand out and look more trusting is by showing an image. A personal photo seems more trusting and honest which will set the job posting apart from one that some may deem sketchy. Posting images comes across as more conversational and young potential employees tend to gravitate towards low-pressure environments which can attract modern professionals.

Along with a marketing strategy, posting an image along with the job posting shows what type of company it is. Adding office photos can emulate a laid back company depending on what the photo reveals. Whatever the employer is trying to showcase, it can more easily be done by adding company photos. Along with showcasing work culture image, employers can utilize photos to demonstrate diversity in the workplace and showcasing any social impacts the company has made. An employer who cares about social impact and diversity are important to Millennials when job seeking.

Employers can take this as an opportunity to utilize employer branding and show themselves off. According to Undercover Recruiter, 80 percent of HR recruiters said employer branding is essential to attracting new talent to the workplace. Having a positive employer branding that showcases their current staff having a positive experience in the workplace is a top desire for younger generations. Young professionals want to know that their future employer will treat them well and is extremely important for these job seekers.

Professional social media platform LinkedIn, allows for photo sharing. To increase attention and traffic to the company, employers should utilize photo sharing. More companies are turning to social media for recruitment.

Some companies are even following popular social trends like making memes to attract potential candidates. If a company decides to be a part of a popular social trend then they need to make sure they do it right. It can have a negative effect if not. For example, McDonald’s recently tried to join the crowd by posting a meme on Twitter with their new starting wages meant to entice new workers. Instead of gaining a positive reaction, Twitter users creatively photoshopped their own explicit and satirical starting wage meme which gained McDonald’s a negative reaction.

Posting job listings with images increases the SEO and searchability which will further increase the outreach of the post and business. Utilizing photo sharing will result in the probability of a job posting becoming shareable. Once the job posting is shared, then it increases the outreach and draws a wider audience.

Data researcher at Media Blog, Douglas Mason, analyzed millions of tweets and found that tweets with photos added to them were boosted and interacted with 35 percent more than those without.

Not only is there engagement involved with clicking on the job posting and with photo sharing. Engagement can be created with the business itself. Online visual content brings attention to the business and traffic to the company’s webpage.

The workplace can be a talking point when there is quality and unique visual content added to job postings. This can create engagement by word of mouth which can help with recruitment and help with the business.

To attract younger professionals that are Millennials and Gen Z, employers need to write job postings that appeal to these younger workers.

New generation workers are more prone to be online and utilize photo sharing on social media platforms. They grew up using technology and they have become pros at the technology side of things. In preference, they would like to see their future employer depict those same technological utilizations in the workplace even with job postings.

Adding a photo can answer the question, “what is the role of this position?” Employers are able to accurately depict what the role is by directly showing it in a photo. The employer can also show what the workplace environment will look like in that particular role. The employer could go the next step and add a video of what the position does and/or role-play a scene depicting a short snippet of a typical workday or key role in the job position.

Along with the job posting becoming more visually appealing, adding job postings with images allows the posting to become more shareable. People are more likely to share the posting online and drive traction to the job listing. Polls and online data have shown that adding visuals to any online content including job postings attract more attention. If there’s a video exists on the page, Internet viewers spend at least 3 to 4 times more on the webpage than if there’s no video there. If the video is tapped or clicked, that goes to around 5 to 6 times longer.

Photos of the company and images of the employers that work there can create a sense of team. Not only for the new employers that may potentially work there, but also for the ones who already do. It’s always in the employer’s best interest to create workers who view themselves as a team, even if they’ve already been hired before any team measures have been implemented.

Job advertisements have been evolving from the traditional job post. Those boring, text-only job posts are no longer attracting the best talent because the way we consume information has changed. Job seekers will often look over a job post and make a split-second decision of whether or not they should apply for a job.

• Want to stand out as an employer?

• Want to persuade and attract hot young top talent?

• Want to tell a compelling story about your job?

• Want to add video, photos and voice to your job posts?

If your answer to any of these questions is YES, try SidePost