The Definitive Guide to Writing Job Adverts
Mark Stephens
AI & Hyper Automation | Business Technologist | DIY & DWY AI Marketing Technology | Growth Strategy | Sales & Marketing
One of the most common challenges facing anyone looking to recruit staff is writing job adverts. Not the job specification, but the advert for the opportunity.
We recently reviewed more than 200 job adverts for a variety of mainstream and niche roles across various industry sectors picking 3 leading job boards and selecting the top 5 results for 40 unique job titles.
We were looking for evidence that advertisers were applying the basic rules of successful advertising. We were not being subjective, just looking at structure, style, content, keywords and determining whether the copy could be considered an advertisement for the opportunity or if it was more a specification of what was required.
173 of the jobs adverts that we reviewed would have failed any basic assessment.
It is evident that the majority of ‘recruiters’, whether ‘in house’ or ‘agency’ do not understand how to maximise their response rates and attract the best applicants.
When you consider that over 90% of all job related searches are performed by people who are already in employment, then it is hard to understand why it appears so difficult for ‘recruiters’ to get their head around what they need to do, in order to attract passive online job seekers.
Now that I have established the issue, I would like to run through a few of the more basic elements that anyone writing advertising copy can apply, in order to improve their conversion rates from ‘view’ to ‘apply’.
Mindset
Get out of the habit of trying to screen out all the unsuitable applicants with your advert and start thinking about your copy as an ‘advertisement’ for an opportunity that will attract the very best candidates currently working with your competition.
Avoid screening
It is very tempting to outline all your requirements for the role when writing job adverts, but you need to remember that you are not writing job specifications. You are writing job adverts. Unless you are an established 'go to brand' like Google or Virgin only desperate applicants will apply to that type of job advert.
The reason that recruiters try to screen applicants out, is to avoid having to sift through dozens of unsuitable CV’s / application forms. The problem with this strategy is that it tends to result in very uninspiring job advertisements that put-off the very best candidates.
Remember, it’s a massive decision for most candidates who are currently in employment, to even consider another job, so the content of your advert is actually very valuable real estate, that needs to be utilised effectively in order to highlight every positive aspect you can think of about this opportunity.
Use the Essential and Desirable criteria section
This section of the job advert is where your qualifying criteria goes, so use it properly.
Candidates are far more likely to refer to this if they like the sound of the opportunity you are advertising.
Sell The Opportunity
The biggest question being asked by the vast majority of applicants reading your advert is “What is in it for me?”
Over 90% of people reading your advert already have a job, so one of the first sections of your copy should be dedicated to selling the opportunity.
To think that people will apply for your job just because they 'can do it', is na?ve at best.
Most candidates will be motivated by the perception that your opportunity represents a positive change for them and will need to justify the subsequent job application and interview logistics that lay head accordingly, if they progress.
Consider what the opportunities are that you can highlight in your advert: To learn something new; to develop or improve their skills, to experience something different; to join a bigger, more highly skilled team; to join a smaller team where they can become a bigger fish; to progress their career; take on more responsibility or to earn more money. The list goes on.
Unless the applicant believes that your job can satisfy the ‘what’s in it for me’ question, they will not hit the ‘apply’ button.
Make the job sound ‘sexy’
An important section of writing job adverts is the job description and this is where the temptation is to revert to spec. You really need to focus on what is interesting, challenging and is likely be seen as ‘sexy’ to your prospective applicant.
What the candidate will be doing at this point, is weighing up and comparing their current role against what they could be doing with you.
Consider what can make the job sound more interesting and appealing; previous or current or future projects; technology and tools; clients; the people; the team; the culture or anything about the company that is worth shouting about.
If you get stuck think about how you would try and sell the role to friend in the pub.
Keyword optimisation
Choosing the right job title and keywords that you want to get found for is essential; especially for highly competitive jobs. The difference between getting your job onto the first page of results and the second can be as high as ten times the number of views.
Structure your job advertising copy
Placing information in the right order that is not only logical to read, but also helps to focus on generating the right sort of content. Here is our recommended structure
? Job Title
? A powerful Intro (The elevator pitch)
? The Opportunity
? The job description
? Essential and Desirable criteria
? The Company
Following a logical process, not only makes writing job copy easier, but also helps avoid filling up your advert with content that has no value to either the applicant or in helping you the recruiter.
There are many other advanced tactics that you can deploy, to further refine you job adverts and to help further improve application response, but I hope that this list will get you started and on the right track, to start improving application results, both in terms of quantity and quality. You can use the links provided within this article to access more information and some free tools that you might find useful.
About the Author
Mark Stephens has worked within the recruitment sector for nearly 20 years both in-house and agency side and more recently within the technology environment.
Mark is a serial entrepreneur and is the founder of Smart Recruit Online, the Recruitment Alliance and The HR & Recruitment Resource Library.
Mark has dedicated his time since 2007 researching the online recruitment sector from a user, technology, and candidate perspective and is regularly published and quoted by leading industry publications for his research and personal opinions.
Connect with Mark Stephens on LinkedIn.
This article was originally published for Smart Recruit Online
Creative Artworker / Graphic Designer
8 年I like the way the article dismisses people who 'need' a job i.e., not one of the 90% as desperate…
Director @ Talent4Performance | Organisation and People Development using Analytics, Brain Science and Change Strategies
8 年Good article Mark! It's also good to read the comments. I find that employers don't know how to identify and use the language that will resonate with the motivations and traits of their ideal candidate. This is often because they haven't properly considered the motivational patterns and traits that a successful candidate will need to have in order to flourish in the role. . .
An organisational change | business transformation leader | passion for helping individuals deliver complex business change | technology | change management | operating model design
8 年Mark Stephens great article, totally agree with you - the advert is so important, it needs to capture the imagination of the individuals.... organisations are failing to wake up to the fact that recruitment is a sales process and not an HR one! Recruitment is still managed by HR Business Partners in many organisations, their specialism isn't sales, marketing or advertising so ultimately what gets posted is the job spec created during requisition processes. now.... if the jobs are posted by so called specialist inhouse recruiters, then there's no excuse, it's just lazy recruitment!
Recruitment Mentor & Training. Growing recruitment skills, careers and businesses.
8 年Good article. I'm often told by recruiters that advertising doesn't work well for finding candidates these days but it's something they "have to do to cover their back". This does rather beg the question of what came first - the poor advert or the poor response....!
Making a difference after retirement
8 年Thank you for the article, Stephen. Like you, I see ads as aspirational, a chance to sell the employer as well as the role, regardless of whether the reader will be employed by the advertiser. They should be constructive, positive and encourage potential not just look at the past. A few other points spring to mind. First, recruiters use filters like poor spelling and punctuation to narrow down the list of applicants. So do job seekers. Writers must ensure their ads are exemplary for the right reasons and proof read. Second, don't keep essential information secret. Why only tell an applicant the salary details after he's spent hours specifically editing his CV and covering letter, only to find it's ￡30K too low for him? If you are worried about confidentiality, set a salary range. Third, give contact details for the recruiter or point of contact so that potential applicants can ask questions and confirm their broad suitability/interest. Few things are as disheartening and offputting for genuine talent than faceless computer sifts and automated processes.