Job Advert Not Working? Try this.

You’ve been working hard for a while now. And it’s paying off.

There’s more work coming your way.

More responsibility.

And you’ve got budget for an additional hire.

You run a smart team. Motivated.

But they don’t take themselves too seriously.

It’s a good balance.

You’ve put together a great job description.

There’s all the detail about your company.

What your team does. Growth plans. Job requirements.

You've checked it and double checked it.

Heck — you may have even triple-checked it.

And you’ve posted it to your careers portal. LinkedIn.

Your HR have posted it to a job board.

So Why Aren’t People Applying?

Don’t worry. It’s an easy fix.

Your job description is just that. A description.

No one is going to bother reading the description until they are attracted.

What attracts people?

What’s in it for them.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

It’s had 4 applicants in one week. And it’s a pretty interesting role.

If you can be bothered to read it.

But — did you bother to read it?

Of course not. Firstly, it's a big wall of text.

And second: it’s all about the company.

When you write an advert, you need to remember:

No one cares what you want.

Now I’m by no means perfect,

But here’s something I wrote at the start of last week:

If you're interested, here’s a link to the full advertisement.

124 applicants in 2 weeks.

Why so many applicants?

My language is focused on the candidate.

The salary helps.

Plus you can see my face: so it's not going to be a black-hole after you apply.

Yeah — there were lots of unsuitable applicants in there.

And maybe more people apply to recruiters because there’s a level of intrigue.

(You don’t know who the end client is).

But still. Writing a compelling job advert makes a big difference.

There’s more interest in the market.

And a much higher chance of (at least) one applicant being suitable.

But good adverts aren't the only want to attract candidates.

How We Work

Once we agree to work together, we’ll discuss what you want.

But then we will ask questions like:

“What are the most significant opportunities for the person in this role?”

Oh yeah. That’s the good stuff.

That’s actually what candidates want to hear.

Not about your annual turnover, or number of employees.

Candidates want to know:

“What’s In It For Me.”

We use a multi-channel approach to reach candidates, which *gasp* is not only using LinkedIn.

It includes advertising, LinkedIn, Facebook, (etc.), networking, and direct headhunting to build our search.

We will put together a compelling job advert.

And use you-focused language to write an attractive message.

Not one of those Dear {CandidateFirstName} messages spamming inboxes.

Mapping the Market

We will go into your main competitors and map the teams.

For a leadership role, some of the best candidates are the second-in-command.

They know (nearly) as much as the leader,

but won’t get an opportunity to step up for a long time…

It takes 80-100 hours to build a longlist.

Once we have engaged, assessed, and qualified this longlist, we have a shortlist.

We present this shortlist with a report of our assessment based on your criteria.

Then the interview process begins.

This is the part you need to focus on. Leave the recruitment to us.

If you’ve posted an advert on LinkedIn, and are unable to attract the right candidate to your team, we can help.

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Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. If you’re an Employer:

→?Read our Free Guides:?10 Step Guide To Hiring A Security Specialist?and?7 Steps To Fix Your Recruitment Process.

→?Download our Free eBook,?“13 free tips you can use right now to hire security talent”. This is our ultimate 27-page guide to building your security team.

→?Or speak to me directly here:?Book a Security Hiring Strategy Session.?

2. If you’re a Candidate:

→?Read our Free Guide:?How To Negotiate Salary.

→?We place security specialists across Europe.?Get in touch?if you are looking for another opportunity.

→?Or use our?CV Rewriting Service to Fix Your CV.

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If you liked this, you may also be interested in last week's Newsletter,?DEI & Bias. What Can You Do?

Thanks for reading.