How to Make Your Job Posts Attract Great Filipino Workers  

Onlinejobs.ph is the leading website for finding highly skilled, experienced Filipino workers. When it comes to finding someone to fill your business needs, there’s no better tool. Our database contains over a million profiles of online Filipino specialists who are eager and ready to accept to be a part of your business.

But how do you find the Filipino worker who is the right fit for your business? How do you attract the right candidate?

It all starts with the job post.

Here are some elements you must have when creating a job posting to high quality Filipino workers for your business:

1. Don’t leave the applicant guessing

When a prospective applicant comes across a posting for a particular job with your business, it’s critical that the post clearly states what type of person you’re looking for. The last thing you want is for a potential applicant to read over the posting and then ask themselves, “Am I qualified?” This should be obvious in the posting.

Don’t overwhelm them with details. But don’t be so vague that you leave a lot of things open to interpretation. Your best guide would be to look at the tasks you need done and start from there. Identify the skills your Filipino VA would need to do those tasks and put them in the job post. By doing this, you automatically eliminate applicants who fail to meet the minimum qualifications for the job.

2. Use conventional titles

Your purpose in posting the job is not to confuse people and keep them guessing. You want them to know, at first glance, what kind of person you’re looking for. And you want to make it easier for them to find your post in our database.

If you are hiring for a graphic artist, name the title of the open position “Graphic Artist.” If you are looking for an SEO specialist, say that’s precisely what you’re hoping to hire.

But if what you’re looking for doesn’t have a typical job title, that’s fine. You can use similar job titles or the main skill you are looking for in the job title. You can use the unique title in the body of the posting.

3. Start with the most vital information

When you read a news article, you want the crucial information on top of the story. The same goes for a job posting. Write the most essential skills and experience at first. The add “extras,” or those things that would be nice to have in a worker but aren’t necessarily deal-breakers.

You want the must-haves to stand out and be read by as many potential applicants as possible. If you bury these things at the end of the posting, they may get lost or overlooked.

4. Include salary

Generally, Filipinos aren’t comfortable talking about money. Putting the salary (or salary range) in your job post would help open the conversation once you have applicants coming in.

Keep in mind that different virtual assistants with different skills would have different rates. The salary range for a newbie or inexperienced VAs would be lower. The salaries of experienced or technical virtual assistants would cost more.

5. Have realistic criteria

Certainly, you would love to find a Filipino worker who is a Jack-of-all-trades—someone who can do anything and everything in your business. The reality is, you’re not going to find that person. You’ll never find a Filipino worker who can speak perfect English and do graphic design, programming, web design, social media, copywriting, editing, social media, SEO and WordPress—all with a high level of efficiency. If this is your expectation, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, decide what skills are absolutely necessary and which ones are nice to have. Determine which duties you can do on your own and which ones you absolutely need to delegate. Over time, you can train your VA to do more, and you can hire additional Filipino workers.

6. Include some information about your business

A common fear among Filipino workers is being scammed. So, if your job post looks fishy, it’s going to scare off anyone who would want to apply.

You can show them that you’re a legit business by putting a bit of your business information in the job post. Talk about your organization’s culture, goals and mission and how they can be a part of these things. When applicants see what you’ve established and how stable your business is, they will be more likely to stay with you long term.

7. Have separate listings of “hard” skills and “soft” skills

The job you post will require certain skills. These include writing and editing abilities, web design skill, proficiency in coding, etc, depending on the position. But don’t overlook the “soft” skills.

Soft skills include those attributes that allow your candidate to handle the rigors of the job and work well with you and others. Some of these types of skills include deadline driven, being a self-starter, having the ability to take direction, having perseverance, etc.

Separating these types of skills in your posts will make them more organized and easier to read and understand.

8. Update and refine your job postings as needed

In the event you need to hire more VAs or replace one, re-using the job post you’ve already written might be a quick and easy solution. But before you do that, make sure you look at the original posting and make any necessary updates. Chances are that your needs and the position requirements have changed.

9. Ask candidates to demonstrate why and how they’re qualified
It’s always nice to see some tangible evidence that the candidates can do what they say they’re capable of. Don’t hesitate to ask for portfolios or work samples such as

• articles they’ve published,
• websites they’ve designed, or
• print or digital graphic arts projects they’ve created, etc.

These samples are helpful in assessing their skills and weeding out unqualified applicants.

When you are writing job posts, always remember your goal. You want to find great candidates, not just the one. You want to have your pick of the best. So put a lot of consideration and care when you write them. Taking the time to create clear, concise, and complete posts will pay off in the end.

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About John Jonas

John Jonas is a long-time outsourcing expert and the creator of OnlineJobs.ph.

Since 2005, John has taught hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs how to profitably delegate to VAs in the Philippines (and get their lives back in the process).

With help from his own VAs based in the Philippines, John has created an outsourcing empire that allows him to work 17 hours/week and to spend most of his time with his wife and 5 kids.

Find John at JohnJonas.com and Facebook.

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