There’s no question about it: Remote work is the new normal. Year over year, more and more companies seem to offer opportunities for partial, or even total, remote work opportunities, whether that’s by providing traditional employees the option to work from home occasionally, or totally abandoning the traditional model and hiring employees on a remote basis. And in fact, according to the Upwork Future Workforce Report, “73% of all departments will have remote workers, with 33% of full-time employees working remotely” by the year 2028.

In other words, remote work opportunities are no longer the novelty they once were. So before you post and advertise the remote working job that just opened at your company, you’ll want to have a strategy in place that ensures you stand out from the crowd. 

Here’s what you need to do to get your remote job in front of your dream candidate. 

Write a Crystal-Clear Remote Job Description

Your plan for advertising your company’s remote working job begins with a deep understanding of the opening, and a clear, attractive job description to match. Attention to detail is critical with your job description, not only because it’s important for marketing, branding, and recruitment from an external perspective, but also because it can mean the difference between reviewing 15 strong, targeted, competitive applications for your open position and 50 applications that just aren’t quite right.

Illustrating this point, in “The Anatomy of a Killer Job Description,” GetApprenticeship’s Matt Treacey writes: “The common practice of throwing together a job description and ‘opening the floodgates’ is something you see all the time. As part of sourcing relevant opportunities for GetApprenticeship, we see hundreds of job descriptions from companies from all over the world, and it’s hard to overstate how much of a difference a good job description makes in attracting the best applicants possible. It also makes the whole hiring process a lot less tedious and more efficient for everyone involved.”

When you’re ready to write down the job description, start by jotting down these critical headers: 

• Job title 
• Brief overview (think: elevator pitch)
• Benefits
• Responsibilities
• Job Requirements
• How to apply
• Interview process

When you write your first draft of the job description, you’ll want to be sure you cover each of those topics as clearly and concisely as possible. As you do, keep the following questions in the back of your mind, and be sure to clearly address them: 

• What’s this company all about?
• Why should I apply for this remote role?
• How does this remote job fit into the organization?
• What will the interview process involve? Will there be any test projects (trial articles, etc.) applicants should know about?
  

After all, your candidates are asking themselves the same thing as they review each job description they encounter. 

Then, before you publish the description on your company’s website and elsewhere, do one last critical review of the entire job description. On this review, you’ll want to make sure the job description is:

• Clear and easy to understand
• Jargon free 
• Written in your brand voice 
• Free from grammatical and spelling errors 
• Accurate 

Once everything is finalized, you’re ready to move on to advertising. 

Make Your Position Stand Out

Gone are the days when simply uploading a job description on a job posting website was enough to attract great candidates. The fact is, today’s remote job candidates are savvier than ever. They’re finding and following companies they want to work for on social channels, networking on LinkedIn, and they’re celebrating the great work these organizations do to connect with users and bring them into their brands at all touch points. 

You should consider advertising your remote working job as yet another arm of your company’s marketing strategy, and let it play with the other elements of the marketing you do. In this way, you’ll have a great chance of making the job description stand out. Not only that, but you’ll guarantee that your brand’s authentic advocates–those who follow you across the internet and beyond–see the description and either apply for the remote position themselves, or share it with qualified individuals they know will connect with your brand like they do. 

One way you could do this is through Facebook Live. Consider taking your audience behind the scenes to meet your staff, or even consider holding interviews with a few of your employees. This could be a great way for remote candidates to get a sense of some of the people who might be working at the organization, even if they won’t be seeing them in person every day. Let audience members ask questions that your staff can answer in real time to give a sense of who people really are and what your office culture might truly be like. These authentic interactions can go far in building trust and encouraging people to want to join your staff. 

Another option is to consider something like an Instagram takeover, where your employees can create and share content promoting the great work happening at your organization. Employees from the department hiring the remote employee can use this opportunity to also share the opening for the job description in their posts to encourage people to work alongside them. 

Of course, it’s still good practice to pursue some of the more traditional forms of advertising, such as the job posting boards, LinkedIn, and any applicable niche-specific sites that candidates may frequent. While those should not be the sole pillar of your strategy, they do continue to be useful in spreading the word about open remote work. 

Pro tip: Be sure that in all your posts, you are very clear about the application process. Each job posting site operates a bit differently, and candidates may become confused or fail to apply to a position with confusing instructions. 

Work With Your Employees

Your staff can be a great and trustworthy resource when it comes to hiring new remote employees. Consider asking them to help you spread the word about this new job description, and maybe even offer an incentive for anyone who refers an individual who is successfully hired. After all, a good employee you trust will likely know someone with similar strong, positive traits that will contribute to the future success of your organization–just the kind of person you want on your team. 

It’s no secret that hiring is a tricky, time-consuming process. And with more and more companies seeking talented remote employees, hiring for a remote working job is sure to be just as difficult. By crafting a strong, clear job description and spreading the word in creative and organic ways, you’re giving your company the best possible leg up in finding a remote worker who is a great fit for your team.