How to Write a Smashing Recruitment Post

You walk a fine line. On the one hand, you want to sound intelligent and put-together, but you don’t want to sound like a philosophical nitwit. You want to make your corporation sounds like a group of skilled, efficient pvpers without sounding like you are all elitist jerks. You want to come across professional, without giving the impression that the corp is no fun. You want to sound fun, but not childish; easy going, but not unorganized; laid back, but not inactive…

We are not all writers, so when it comes time to writing a solid recruitment post, it can become a daunting task. You will need to give a positive, accurate account of the corporation you are recruiting for, while also projecting the type of people you are looking for.

First, be sure to include the important facts. This includes skill point requirements, the time zone your corp operates in, as well as the primary purpose of your corporation. (ie: pvp, industry, wormhole, faction war, etc.)

Second, avoid rambling on and on. People want to know who you are and what you are about. They don’t care about that time two years ago when you were sitting at this gate and fred farted over voice coms and the fc got mad and this hostile gang jumped in and XYZ happened. If your story is too good not to tell, save it for a follow up post. Keep the main post for succinct, organized information.

Third, keep it short, and put the most important stuff in the first few sentences. A lot of times people will just ‘glance’ at your post. If they see something they are looking for, then they will read on. If it looks too daunting, they’ll move on.

Fourth, use proper grammar, and make use of paragraphs, boldened text, bullet points, etc. Make the post easy on the eyes over all. Most people wont read if they run into a big wall of text when your post loads.

Fifth, don’t lie. It may be tempting to make your corporation sound super awesome by inserting a few half truths. But, someone will catch on and you will probably just get trolled to death. Then you just look stupid.

Sixth, provide contact information. If you have a recruitment channel, post it. If there are other recruiters in your corporation, post their names. Make it as easy as possible for them to ‘find’ you.

Seventh, get corpmates to bump it! If it’s not within the first few pages on the forums, chances are that perfect recruit wont see it! But, get your corpmates to post meaningful things on it, instead of long rows of “Bump” posts. It will make your corporation look active and engaged with each other.

Eighth, respond to others talking on your post. Unless it’s trolling or nonsense (which you should report immediately) respond to questions and inquiries right on the post. This will not only bump the post, but may answer the question for someone else who was also curious. If a potential recruit responds, make sure to respond back on the post AND via Eve mail.

Ninth, link your post. Link it when you respond to other posts on the forums. Provide a link in your recruitment channel. Send the link when you email prospective recruits.