10 Key Things You Should Include in a Remote Job Posting

Kickresume

Jan 9, 2023 9 min reading

The job market is more competitive than ever, and if you want to attract the top remote job applicants, optimizing your remote job postings matters.

For example, you should explain how your company operates remotely, what’s your digital collaboration like, whether you’ll provide them with equipment, and much more.

In this guide, we’ll tell you 10 of the most important details to include in a remote job posting, such as:

Job title
Type of remote job
Your company’s remote situation
Your company’s collaboration process
Job description and requirements
Role’s day-to-day responsibilities
Salary and benefits
Job application process
Your hiring process
Your company’s culture, mission, and values

What to include in a remote job posting

Writing a job posting is kind of like writing a dating profile.

You want to make clear what you’re looking for, what you have to offer, and how to best reach you.

Even though you’re in the role of the employer, you still need to put in the effort to make your job posting more attractive to potential job applicants.

With this in mind, here are 10 key details to include when writing effective remote job postings:

1. The job title

Right off the bat, the job title is the first thing you need to make abundantly clear.

A job title can be generic or more job-specific.

For instance, let’s say you work for a magazine and you want to hire an arts and culture writer. In your job posting, you could either use a generic title, like “Staff Writer,” or a more job-specific title, like “Arts & Culture Expert.”

Many employers opt for the more job-specific title, as it often sounds more intriguing.

However, it’s also essential to consider how well the job title you include conveys what the job is about.

With the above example, Staff Writer sounds a bit too generic, while Arts & Culture Expert may be too broad. Instead, try combining the two to include the most important keywords, such as “Arts & Culture Writer.”

2. The type of remote job

Remote jobs have become increasingly diverse, including a whole range of different positions.

When writing a remote job posting, let the job applicant know what exactly you mean when you say “remote.”

It can be:

Full-time: Employees are expected to be active and available 40 hours per week.
Part-time: Employees are expected to be active and available for less than 35 hours per week.
Freelance: Employees are expected to fulfill deadlines rather than work specific hours.
Hybrid remote: Employees are expected to come to a physical office on specific days or for specific work occasions.

3. Your company’s remote situation

A remote workplace is inherently different from an in-office one.

Each company goes about remote work in its own way — which can sometimes leave job applicants having to guess what they can expect from a company.

As you write your remote job posting, make sure to highlight what your company’s remote situation is.

This may include:

Remote style: Along with defining what type of remote job you’re offering, you should also define the remote style of work you follow. For instance, you could be remote-friendly and allow employees to choose between remote and in-person work. Alternatively, you could be remote-first and encourage all employees to work remotely.
Job location requirements: Remote work opens up your hiring pool significantly. Depending on the type of job and what you require of your staff, you may not need employees to be in the same location as you. It’s key to thoroughly explain where you’re located, where you need employees to be located, and if any travel or on-site work is required.
Work hours: Remote workplaces need different ways to define what appropriate work hours are than in-office workplaces. In your job posting, include an explanation of how you track work hours (in case you do), if you require remote employees to be active during specific hours, and how you deal with employees in different time zones.
Schedule flexibility: Many remote jobs allow employees to have a hand in making their schedule. However, some jobs have needs that require employees to be present and active during particular hours. Always let job applicants know in your job posting how flexible your scheduling is and how much control your employees have over when they work.

4. Your company’s collaboration process

Naturally, working remotely requires digital communication and collaboration.

Depending on whether or not a job applicant has worked remotely before, understanding a remote collaboration process may be difficult.

Also, your process may be completely different from how they operated in their previous job.

So, make your collaboration process easy to understand in your job posting by including:

Whether or not you work asynchronously
How often you have meetings and how you meet (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
What systems and digital tools you use for communication and collaboration (Slack, Basecamp, Google Drive, etc.)

Ideally, also write out an example of how a job applicant will communicate with other employees.

5. The job description and requirements

Now that you have clearly defined what “remote” means in your workplace, you must describe the actual job opening you’re offering.

When writing a job description, try to include all of the essential job requirements. These days, job applicants want to know exactly what’s expected of them, so don’t skimp on the details here.

A job description should always include:

A list of all required skills and experience
A list of skills that you want applicants to have but aren’t required
A list of the top-level responsibilities a job applicant will have (managing a team, meeting with executives, etc.)

6. An explanation of the role’s day-to-day responsibilities

Along with listing the top-level responsibilities of the job you’re offering, you should also let the job applicant know what their day-to-day responsibilities will look like.

To do this, you should include:

An in-depth description that details an average day (how many meetings to expect daily, what to do with downtime, when to check in with managers, etc.)
A description of the remote work environment (how often you expect daily communication, what kind of daily staff support is available, etc.)
What goals or milestones you want employees to hit on a daily basis (sales goals, generating new leads, finishing specific amounts of work, etc.)

7. The salary and benefits

Let’s face it — one of the first things a job applicant is going to hunt for in a job posting is the salary.

Many companies are open to salary negotiation, especially for remote employees. If negotiation is something you’re open to, state that in your job posting.

Additionally, your job posting should be abundantly clear when listing:

The salary or salary range for the position
The benefits offered for remote roles (health insurance, educational opportunities, PTO, etc.)
The support available to remote employees

8. How to apply for the job

One way that employers can often fail when writing a remote job posting is not including exact instructions on how to apply.

For instance, if you’ve posted a job opening on a talent hub or other recruitment site, it’s crucial to state whether the applicant should apply via the talent hub or send an application directly to you via email.

Within your job description, include:

How and where to apply
What documents an applicant needs to submit (resume, cover letter, portfolio, samples, etc.)
A checklist of required items or steps to help the job applicant stay organized

9. Your company’s hiring process

The hiring process can be stressful for everyone involved, especially if you don’t set clear expectations.

In your remote job posting, always strive to describe your hiring process in as much detail as possible, so job applications know what to expect.

This description should generally include:

The timeframe in which you’re accepting applications
How and when you’ll contact candidates (and if you plan to contact candidates for rejections)
How many interview rounds you have
What types of interviews you have (phone, video, etc.)
If you require any pre-employment tests

10. Your company’s culture, mission, and values

Finally, a job applicant wants to know what your company stands for.

Most applicants these days are looking for jobs that align with their personal values and needs, so letting them know this information is key.

Here’s what to include in a remote job posting to highlight what your company cares about:

Culture: Your company culture is the ethos of your organization. It should emphasize the overall attitude you want employees to have, how you encourage productivity, and whether you prioritize competition or collaboration more (hint: collaboration over the competition can go a long way with remote employees who want to feel like part of the team).
Mission: Your company mission is the reason why your company exists in the first place. A mission statement should include what your core goals and objectives are, as well as how your employees help to achieve those goals.
Values: Your company values refer to the principles and beliefs that guide your business. These can include social values, like diversity and inclusion, as well as business values, such as honesty and accountability.

Additional details to include in a remote job posting

The 10 details we described above are the most essential information needed in a remote job posting.

However, you can also include other additional details, depending on what your company needs or what matters to the employees you’re targeting.

This can be:

Equipment (what equipment an employee needs and what equipment you provide)
Targeted keywords (for instance, if you’re looking for a mobile app developer, your target keywords can include specific coding languages, like Python or C++)
Tailored descriptions for specific audiences (for instance, if you want to attract recent graduates, you may highlight educational and growth opportunities. Comparatively, for senior-level applicants, you may instead highlight networking opportunities and power structures.)

Remember, the key is to know your audience.

So, take time to research these applicants and what they respond well to. Knowing these things beforehand can be incredibly useful not only for writing your job postings but also for finding the ideal people for the position.

Pro tip: Using a professional social media platform like LinkedIn can help you reach out to job applicants and learn what they look for in remote job postings.

Key takeaway: Make sure your job posting is as specific as possible

When writing a remote job posting, be as transparent as possible to attract very specific applicants.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be efficient. And the reason is simple:

You have candidates with certain expectations, and you may spend many hours or interview rounds with a certain candidate till you realize that something doesn’t work for them. And that something could be addressed properly at the beginning.

By stating the key things in your remote job posting, you ensure you target the professionals that you’re looking for, and can find your ideal candidates with ease.

This article was provided by Kickresume

Kickresume is a popular online resume builder that also aims to connect companies with the right remote talent. With their resume builder alone, they’ve already helped more than 1.5M people worldwide land jobs. Their remote jobs board takes that one step further by automatically matching job candidates with relevant remote roles.