How to write an effective job advert!

Here at Benjamin Edwards, we understand the importance of a great job advert more than most and we also understand that writing a great one can be a mammoth challenge! But we’re here to help. Follow our guide below to write the perfect description every time!

Choose an appealing job title - This is perhaps the most obvious way to increase interest in your job advert especially if it is to be displayed on a “jobs site” where it may well be surrounded with other similar positions. To you and your business, your role may be known as something like “Level 3 Global Human Resources Support Officer” but realistically how many people are actually going to search for this? Look to attract the kind of people that would want to work at the right level. Entitling the job Human Resource Officer would attract more applicants. Remember to repeat the job title several times during your advert.

Short Introduction - Write an introduction of approx 40 words to talk about the company, the team, the management style, your organisation's ambitions, training and development opportunities. The benefits both financial and non-financial such as flexible hours or team days out.  The aim of this description is for the potential candidate to make a quick decision on whether this is the kind of job they are looking to apply for or not. If your company isn't a well-known brand name you'll need to provide an explanation of what kind of industry you are in, size of business and growth plans also make for an interesting read.

Location - Where is your job-based? Are there good transport links? Is it necessary for the candidate to be within x mile radius? You should list all of these points here.

Role Responsibilities - Here is your opportunity to talk about the job itself and what it entails. Be sure to outline the day to day tasks as well as longer-term goals. This part doesn’t have to be as detailed as a job description and outline every single aspect of the role, stick to 5 to 7 main bullet points if possible. Remember not to use jargon only associated with your business here!

Candidate Specification - You now need to list what skills, qualifications and attributes you are looking for in your ideal applicant. Usually, these would be divided into what is a requirement and what would be an advantage. Think about if you would rather have a higher level of applicants to choose from or just one to two more specific and tailored applications. If you are looking for a higher volume of applications, you can afford to be a little broader here in your requirements whereas if you’re looking to be stricter in your criteria you should outline specific necessary points.

Application Steps - You now need to outline what the next steps are for the applicant. Where do they need to send their CV? Do they need to supply any additional information? Do they need to send a cover letter? It is also worth putting a contact telephone number and email address here (so many companies miss out on good candidates as there is no way of them enquiring further about the role)

Hopefully, now you should have all of the things you need to write a great job description for your new position. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you require any help with your recruitment process. 

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