The most accurate benchmarking is done when job title and keyword search are leveraged against each other.
Key things to consider are;
Which terms can go in job title search?
Which terms can go in keyword search?
Which similar job titles should I include?
Do we need any exclusion terms in job title search?
Are there any skills/qualifications that are critical to this role?
Example searches
Click on any of the following jobs to see a description and screenshot for an ideal search. These should serve as inspiration and should be expanded upon based on your company, industry and level of role you are benchmarking.
Tip - Save your searches so you only need to type in multiple terms once 🧠
HR Business Partner 👥
HR Business Partner 👥
For this role I have included 4 realistic variations of our job title. I have also excluded 'graduate' and 'junior'.
Accountant 🧮
Accountant 🧮
'Accountant' is one of the most consistent job titles, but can often come with lots of other roles we don't want to see. Here, I have excluded 4 terms that below the level we are benchmarking.
Another consideration would be to include one or more of the following accounting qualifications that we know are regularly searched for in candidates, as follows;
Warehouse Operative 📦
Warehouse Operative 📦
The majority of warehouse roles can be captured with the following 3 job title. If you want to expand your search further, you can just type in the word 'warehouse' and you will see all relevant roles, but this may require some manual sorting to remove 'manager' roles, as an example.
You may also want to include some relevant keywords, the most common being;
Business Development Manager 🤝
Business Development Manager 🤝
The job scope of a BDM can vary significantly based on experience levels, targets and so on. To capture all levels (and then refine your search) you may want to include the following job titles.
For the example above, I have benchmarked a mid-level BDM and so I have excluded some relevant terms.
Data Analyst 📊
Data Analyst 📊
As one of our most popular searches, you can reach an accurate data set with just the job title 'Data Analyst' on its own.
For this example however, I have approached the benchmark slightly differently by including just one term in the job title, 'Analyst';
To capture all relevant analyst roles I have also included the following keywords;
You may also consider including or excluding a handful of industries to refine this role at speed.
Financial Controller 💰
Financial Controller 💰
For a financial controller I recommend the first 2 variations of the job title, but the 3rd, 4th and 5th suggestions are optional depending on the scope of the role. There may be some overlap with managerial roles and CFO roles at other organisations.
And here are some keywords for you to consider;
Software Engineer 👩💻
Software Engineer 👩💻
Software Engineers have one of the widest varieties of job titles that we see on the platform, but remember, you get this right today and you save your search for future reference.
Here's what your job title search might look like;
Software engineers are also an example in which keyword search is most critical, as the coding languages are clear indicators of the scope of the role.
Marketing Manager 📺
Marketing Manager 📺
For Marketing Managers, the job title alone is one of the more accurate job titles to receive relevant results. You may wish to exclude some job title terms that you know are not relevant;
And here are some relevant keywords to consider too;
'Head of _______' & Director roles 🤵♀️ 🤵♂️
'Head of _______' & Director roles 🤵♀️ 🤵♂️
'Head of' and 'Director' roles are harder to benchmark through job posts given the headhunting nature of these roles, but strong data is still available in our platform.
Some roles are fairly easy to find, e.g. Head of Finance, Finance Director but other roles require splitting.
For example, only include 'Head of' in our job title search, with some of the exclusion terms shown below, and then add multiple keywords for context.
These keyword terms are very generic and so you may need to include deeper context to receive the desired results. This is also a good opportunity to consider industry filtering.
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As mentioned, all of these searches are examples and can be used as templates, but you should be looking to amend them to fit the role you are benchmarking.
And finally, Alex is on hand to support with any queries you have about search terms, job titles, keywords, industries and more. Email him at alex.hardy@hrdatahub.com.