On behalf of the entire Hire Value Inc. team, Happy New Year! We hope the last couple of weeks brought you great joy!
As we close out 2019 by pointing out fails often made when advertising jobs; we thought it would be important to start 2020 off on a high note by providing you some of the essentials for effective job ads.
Here are three:
1. Think like your ideal candidate.
“If I were looking for a job, what would make me want to work here?” This is a question you should both ask yourself and come up with a good answer to. In order to attract the type of talent you most want, it’s important to put yourself in your candidates’ shoes. According to Lisa Jones on TheUndercoverRecruiter.com, by thinking like your candidates, you’ll get more relevant job applications, less pointless applicants and more respect. To accomplish this, she insists you use “their” language.
Reveals Jones, “in my early recruitment career I was involved in many a row about FMCG and TMT not really being a candidate term and that recruiters needed to use keywords that candidates use (especially if they are not candidates yet and thus are not hunting for jobs loaded with your techie speak).”
2. Put some heart into writing it.
Do you like where you work? Of course, you do! It’s important to communicate why you like it and puts some passion in your job ad. How do you do that? Talk about the company culture and showcase what the future will be with the help of new talent. Offer some insight into what it’s like to work at your company and highlight 1or 2 of the benefits offered.
On Zippia.com, Paul Slezak encourages you to talk to your readers – not about them. “When you are writing your advertisement, avoid phrases like ‘the successful candidate’ or ‘the ideal applicant’ since this will make even the most suitable candidate question whether they’re right for the role,” he advises, “Rather say something along the lines of, ‘In this exciting role you will be working with …’ or ‘Coming from a strong sales background, you will be expected to…’.”
3. Keep it concise and to the essentials of the role.
This is a candidate’s market. There are lots of jobs to choose from. What will make yours look more appealing than the others? In many cases, the answer comes down to length. Keeping things concise and to the point is bound to attract more readers. According to Slezak, it’s important to nail the short description.
“When it comes to online job ads in particular, you should be aware that on average four times as many people read the short description than actually click through to the ad itself,” he writes, “So put some effort into what you write…even if you only have 140 characters in which to say it.”
For more expert recruitment advice, contact Hire Value Inc. today!
