Any minimum-wage telemarketer can paraphrase a job posting or rattle off a string of keywords. But is that the best way to attract the highest caliber candidates?

And now you know the rest of the story
if you can sidestep the keywords and tell a story—something that's cool or interesting or intriguing about the job—your presentation will sparkle. To illustrate, consider this tired old keyword-based recruiting script:

"Hi, I'm a recruiter, and I'm looking for a Sales Engineer with a four-year degree and 5-10 years experience in mining safety instruments who can sell direct and through distributors. The ideal candidate will travel 75 percent of the time and call on end-users located at bituminous extraction facilities in a five-state territory. The company offers a competitive salary and medical, disability and rehabilitation benefits. Doesn't this sound exciting?"

Now compare the keyword script with this:

"Hi, I'm a recruiter, and I'm working with a company that's got a pretty amazing goal: To lower the cost of electricity, protect the environment—and more importantly—ensure the safety of the men and women who help us meet our energy needs. The company's mission is to launch a new generation of mine safety instruments and help the industry raise its safety standards. Is this something you might be interested in?"

Or this:

"Hi, I'm a recruiter, and I've got a pretty intriguing situation. A client of mine is about to launch a revolutionary line of mine safety products. The only problem is, the products are more sophisticated and effective than the company's sales force. But instead of laying people off, the directors decided to recruit a brand-new team of all-stars, hand-picked from the best in the industry. The challenge will be huge—but so will the upside. Is this something you might want to take a look at?"

Notice the difference? The two new scripts tell a little story. Not a complete story, mind you; but enough to spark the candidate's interest and begin a conversation. Which is the whole point of your initial presentation.

Take a look at the jobs you're trying to fill. Do the descriptions tell you anything about the problem the company (or department or manager) is trying to solve? Or what drives their decision to hire? Or what it will mean to fix the problem in terms of customer satisfaction, company growth or upward mobility for the candidate? Probably not; that's the type of value-added information that requires some detective work on your part.

The more you understand the story behind the job, the more effectively you'll attract the right candidates—and distinguish yourself from other recruiters who rely on keywords to do their matching and selling.