Learn how to create a free job posting on Indeed, sponsor your job, and attract top talent with our step-by-step guide.
How to Maximize Your Free Indeed Job Posting in 4 Steps
Charlette has over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance and 2 years of partnering with HR leaders on freelance projects. She uses this extensive experience to answer your questions about payroll.
Jennifer Hartman is an HR Specialist and staff writer for Fit Small Business, with over 15 years of experience in accounting, payroll, and human resources.
This article is part of a larger series on Hiring.
To maximize your Indeed job posting, write clear job descriptions, highlight your company and benefits, and focus on using search-engine-friendly keywords. A detailed and specific job posting will lead to a larger pool of qualified candidates on Indeed, which boasts 100 million resumes and more than 200 million visitors every month. You can post your jobs for free and opt to sponsor your critical ads to get more views.
Step 1: Draft a Clear & Detailed Job Post
Before posting your job openings to Indeed, determine the type of candidates you want to attract. Make sure your job post reflects your company’s vision and details the type of candidate you are looking to hire.
- Choose a job title that gets the attention of job seekers: Some job titles get more action than others. You’ll need a descriptive but compelling title that clearly outlines the position.
- Write an interesting and clear job description: Indeed’s Job Description field offers a space to explain the responsibilities and work experience, skills, and education required for the position. Be sure your description is keyword-rich to maximize the potential of it reaching top candidates. Having a good job description ensures that you’ll not only attract the right candidates but help non-qualified applicants opt out.
- Highlight your company attributes: A strong company culture can attract job seekers. Be sure to update the company career page on your website and highlight your company within the job posting.
Step 2: Post Your Open Jobs
Indeed allows employers to post open job listings for free; no credit card is required. It’s a great option if you are making your first hires or cannot afford paid advertising. To post a job on Indeed for free, complete these four steps:
Select Employers/Post Job
Go to Indeed.com and select Employers/Post Job in the upper right-hand corner. Once you click, you will have the option to Create a Post (for a brand-new job) or View Eligible Jobs (add an existing job from your career page).
Choose the Employers/Post Job option to post a free job on Indeed.
Create a Free Employer Account
If you do not already have an account on Indeed, follow the instructions to create your free employer account. You will be asked to provide your company email address—it is wise to use a dedicated company email address (such as jobs@companyname.com or careers@companyname.com) specifically for receiving resumes and notifications about your job post. Additionally, you will provide your company name, contact information, and a unique password.
Create a Job Post
When you begin the process of creating your job post, you will have the option to start with a new post or use a previous job as a template. Select Post a Job from your Indeed for Employers dashboard.
Use Indeed’s posting tool to create a new job posting.
Click continue and then follow the prompts to fill out the rest of your job posting information through the following categories:
Provide basic information about the job, such as your role in the hiring process, job title, category of job position, and location of the position.
Enter job title, category, and location.
Additionally, you will have the option to advertise in other locations (this is a paid feature). Advertising in multiple locations using sponsored job postings allows more candidates to view your job post.
Create a sponsored job post for as little as $5 per day.
On this screen, you will provide your job type information—full time or part time, job type, schedule, number of openings, and hiring timeframe.
Enter details about the job type and schedule.
Add compensation details for your specific job opening. Pay can be listed as a salary range or exact amount and can be recorded as annual or hourly. You will also include any benefits the company offers. A drop-down menu provides a range of options to choose from.
Include compensation and benefits offered.
Enter your job description information. Be as specific as possible and include all details of the position, including skills, education, and experience required. It is a good idea to have your job description created ahead of posting your job and then copy and paste it into this field. You also have the option to upload a PDF or DOCX file.
Insert a keyword-rich and detailed job description.
This section is also where you can include any company photos or videos of relevance to the position. Be sure to use actual photos of your workspace and not stock photos. Real photos show job seekers the environment they may be working in.
After you add your detailed job description, set your application preferences. This includes how you will receive applications (email, URL, or in person), if you require a resume with the application, an email address for Indeed to send daily resume updates, and whether you want to allow candidates to contact you regarding the position.
Set and manage application and communication settings.
Employer Assist will allow Indeed to decline candidates you are uninterested in on your behalf. This includes sending an automated email to let candidates know they have not been selected for the position.
Employer Assist can be enabled or disabled during the job post process.
You will have the opportunity to add skills tests and set application questions. This includes the option to make application questions a deal-breaker. If the candidate does not answer the question correctly, they are automatically disqualified from the position and moved to “rejected.”
Select required application questions, including deal-breaker questions.
Review & Publish Job Post
Finally, you will have the opportunity to review the job post for accuracy before completing the process. The pencil icon next to each job category will allow you to edit your answers to preselected questions or any self-written information such as the job title and description. Once you are satisfied with your post, press Confirm to publish your post.
Review and edit your job post before submitting.
Make sure you close any open job posts before you post another job with the same title, or Indeed may flag you for posting duplicate positions—and may lock your free account. Go to the job on your dashboard and choose pause or close.
Step 3: Sponsor Your Job Posting
Although posting your job on Indeed is free, you can pay to sponsor your listing so it will remain displayed in relevant search results (and not move down as new jobs are added) for longer. There are no contracts, so you can stop sponsoring or change your budget at any time. The higher your budget, the better the chance that your ad will be visible and competitive.
Sponsored jobs are priced using a daily budget, and charges are only incurred when interested job seekers click on your sponsored job. You set a daily budget (ranging from $5–$499 a day), which is the average amount you’d like to spend per day to promote your job.
To sponsor your job, simply click Sponsor Job on the right-hand side of the job listing in your Jobs tab on your Employer Dashboard. From there you will determine your ad duration (amount of time you want your job to be sponsored) and your daily budget. Based on your input, Indeed will calculate the estimated number of applicants you should receive for your job posting and the total amount your budget will cost. You can change your budget at this time or Save and Continue.
Choose your budget when sponsoring a job to get more visibility.
When you sponsor a job posting, you can access those candidates whose resumes match your job description instantly and invite candidates to apply. While there’s no limit to the number of free job postings you can list on Indeed’s job board, sponsoring your most critical jobs can help you find better applicants faster. If you do a sponsored posting on Indeed, you can terminate advertising at any time (i.e., as soon as you feel you have enough qualified candidates or by closing the job opening) and still have access to any candidates who applied.
Sponsored listings are indicated next to your job postings in your Open/Paused Jobs tab.
Step 4: Claim Your Company & Careers Page
Indeed, like Glassdoor, posts company reviews from job applicants and employees. These are found on your Company and Careers Page. Chances are, this page already exists and you simply need to claim it. Go to Indeed.com and type in your company name, and if unclaimed, a button on the right side will show Claim this company page.
Example of Fit Small Business’ Indeed Company Review page
Your Indeed company page lets job seekers learn more about your company and determine if it’s a good fit. It includes detailed information about your company (filled in by you), reviews, average reported salaries, and job openings. You can maximize your job postings by placing a link to them on your social media networks or embedding it on your company website. It updates in real time, so if you pause or close a job in Indeed, it’s also removed from your Company and Careers page.
Additionally, this page shows potential candidates a ratings overview based on reviews. Categories include Work & Life Balance, Compensation & Benefits, Job Security & Advancement, Management, and Culture. Ratings are scored based on a total perfect score of 5.0.
Ratings are based on reviews and a top score of 5.0.
Benefits of Posting to Indeed
Posting jobs using recruiting software like Indeed benefits your company by allowing you to reach a larger pool of qualified talent.
- Get applicants. This may seem simple, but for even the most complex roles, Indeed always delivers at least a few job seekers. Since the process to post a job on Indeed takes only about two to three minutes (if you already have a job description ready), it’s worth your time.
- Lets you search resumes. Maybe you aren’t getting enough applicants to your job posting or want more control over finding good candidates. Indeed allows you to source candidates that match your job description. This may be more affordable than contacting them using social media tools like LinkedIn InMail or LinkedIn Recruiter. To learn more, read our guide on how to search resumes on Indeed.
- View resumes on your terms. Indeed gives you nice flexibility when hiring. For instance, even if you’re not logged in, you can view applicant resumes via email alerts. Indeed attaches the full resume of an applicant to the email alert you receive. Or, you can log in to Indeed and go through and organize candidates systematically. It’s like having your own applicant tracking system (ATS).
- Send applicants to your careers page to apply. Within your job posting on Indeed, you can send applicants to the careers page on your company website to apply for your open job positions. This allows you to keep the hiring process in-house.
Bottom Line
Indeed can be a great tool for finding quality employees, especially if you put some effort into making sure your job posting is accurate and compelling. Be sure to keep your job posts up to date and as detailed as possible, and consider sponsoring some of your job postings to attract more candidates. Job seekers will be more likely to apply if you have a strong company culture, which should be reflected on your company page.
