This blog post brought to you by our friends at ZipRecruiter[1]
Hiring restaurant employees can be challenging. With the average annual turnover rate in the restaurant industry upward of 70%*, restaurants must strategically recruit year-round to keep their businesses moving forward.
How? The first step is ensuring your job posts are optimized to reach qualified candidates fast and convince them to apply. Job posts should of course be clear, descriptive, and free of typos, but some optimization best-practices are less obvious. Here are eight simple ways to optimize your job posts.
The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Restaurant Employees:
1. Titles Should be Short and Straightforward
Job titles with 60 characters or less have the highest click to apply rates, on average.** Many employers might think it’s a good idea to add extra adjectives or words to make a job sound more prestigious or exciting, but data shows that’s not the case. For restaurant jobs, simple job titles like Server, Bartender, Line Cook, and Hostess are best.
2. Titles Should be Searchable
More fuel for the short and straightforward argument: in today’s online job search landscape, it’s important that your job titles are highly searchable. Make sure your titles includes the most relevant keywords, so job site algorithms will place them at the top of search results.
Recommended Reading: How to decrease staff turnover in your restaurant
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3. Create a Clear Flow
The job post should start with a concise statement of what the job is and what the employee will be tasked with. Be sure to list the benefits of working at your restaurant, the responsibilities of the job, and the required qualifications. You can also include a section describing your restaurant and the neighborhood where it’s located. Establish a logical flow that takes the job seeker through your description naturally.
4. Be Mobile Friendly
60% of job seeking today happens on mobile devices,** which means all of your job posts should be created with mobile users in mind. Some job posting services (like ZipRecruiter) will automatically optimize your job posts for mobile, but there are even more ways you can create a great mobile experience. It’s important to keep your descriptions concise, make it simple for candidates to apply, and create clear breaks between paragraphs for optimal readability.
5. Add Salary Information
Job postings that include salary data receive 25% more applications, on average.** Don’t forget to add details about your restaurant’s policies and expectations around tipping and paying out tips.
6. Add Your Restaurant’s Address
Commute is an essential consideration for job seekers. So it’s no surprise that including the address of your restaurant is another great way to boost applications. In a study conducted in May 2017, ZipRecruiter saw overall job seeker engagement increase by 40% when using street addresses to factor in commute time for job matching.**
7. List Any and All Benefits
In any industry, employee benefits can be a game-changer for job seekers. If your company offers health benefits, 401k options, paid time off, or free meals, be sure to include that information in the job description.
Recommended Reading: 4 Ways to Motivate Your Restaurant Employees
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8. Be Clear About Hours and Scheduling
In the restaurant industry, days worked and hours vary dramatically from one job to the next. Let job seekers know up front what to expect with regards to scheduling. It’s a great way to save your own time and the time of candidates who might have scheduling conflicts.
Looking for even more ways to make sure you’re hiring the right people? To help restaurants everywhere with their recruitment needs, we partnered with ZipRecruiter—the smartest way to hire. Here’s how ZipRecruiter works:
- Post a job, and their smart matching technology finds the best candidates and invites them to apply.
- Then, they review every application and spotlight the top candidates, so you never miss a great match.
- As you review candidates, they learn from your feedback to get you more candidates you’ll like.
In fact, 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within the first day.
Ready to try ZipRecruiter for yourself? 7shifts customers can post a job for free.
ZipRecruiter is a leading online employment marketplace. Powered by industry-leading AI matching technology, we’ve connected millions of businesses and job seekers through innovative mobile, web, email services, and partnerships with the best job boards on the web.
*Source: ZipRecruiter Internal Data, 2017[2]
DJ Costantino, Content Writer
DJ Costantino
Content Writer
Hi! I'm D.J., 7shifts' resident Content Writer. I come from a family of chefs and have a background in food journalism. I'm always looking for ways to help make the restaurant industry better!
