Writing the Perfect Job Advert
It can be useful to think of a job advertisement as a function of advertising. When you are advertising a job you are selling a product; the readers are your potential employees. Information must therefore be communicated effectively so that it reaches its target audience.
Your job advert should be a collaborative effort between a senior member of the department recruiting and an HR (Human Resources) executive. Envisage your perfect candidate and distil this individual's qualities into a list of five to ten key traits. Tailor the wording of the advert to this person, as if you are writing him or her a personal letter.
Any good job advert will concentrate on the person as much as the role. If a member of staff is leaving, don't just replace like for like; take the time to ensure that you really need to fill this role, or decide if the job needs redefining to meet your full requirements.
Create Interest in Your Jobs
The core function of the process is simple: attract interest, communicate the essential points quickly and clearly, and provide a clear response process and mechanism.
While you want to create as much interest in the position as possible, it is also vital that you attract the right sort of interest. Include filters – degree education, previous job experience etc – in order to cut down on unsuitable candidates.
A suitable headline will normally be the job title itself. If the title does not capture the advertised role sufficiently well, use a strap line to expand the position further.
Help readers to visualise themselves in the role by addressing them directly ('you will have experience of…') and attempt to excite them by emphasising the uniqueness and appeal of the role. Outline what makes the organisation dynamic and appealing, and how this job will help them contribute to company and develop their careers.
Keep Your Job Advert Simple
Keep the language of your job advert simple, and the sentences as short as possible. All the information given should be vital and the reader must be able to digest it in one go. Make sure that the text of the advert is not too dense and leave plenty of blank space. Bullet points can be a good way of conveying maximum amounts of information in bite-size form.
Never try to be fun or funky. You are never as funny as you think and attempting to convey how 'hip' your company is will lose you far more good candidates than it will gain.
Layout is vitally important. Your job advert should look professional, and convey a degree of professionalism. Branding should be present but not dominant.
A good job advert will include:
- Job title
- Employer details
- Location
- Role and purpose
- Responsibility, timescale and nature of the role
- Ideal candidate profile
- Qualifications and experience required
- Salary or salary guide
- Response and application details
A bad job advert will include:
- Too much technical detail about the job or the company
- A fussy layout or complicated words (distracts candidates and slows reading)
- A patronising or self-consciously 'funky' tone
- Clever or obscure headlines
- Too many words
- Uninspiring descriptions of roles and ideal candidates
- Too much emphasis on the job and not enough on the person
