Your dull job ad copy is turning away top talent

Former recruiter here... so I know that most hiring managers (and some recruiters for that matter) don’t give two hoots about job advertisements when recruiting. Most don’t think to use the humble job ad as a screening tool. Most don’t think about their value and role in reducing high recruitment costs and time-to-fill, or their ability to increase the quality of applicants lured to a striking employer brand.

Most don’t bother trying to improve an out-dated system, instead sticking to a tried and safe method of copy and paste from stodgy ol’ corporate job descriptions.

But these boring job ads are turning away talent.

Boring job ads fail to connect, and enchant, and entice the right people to apply. Because no one can be bothered reading it properly. No one can be bothered digging through the jargon to find out what kind of employer, workplace, and opportunity this is.

Most people will apply for a role, not because of compelling ad copy that sells your opportunity, but because of familiarity with the role title.

Marketing manager. Admin assistant. Team leader.

So what results?

A mass of ill-suited applications. Time wasted. Opportunities lost.

Some recruitment stats

Glassdoor for Employers compiled a list of compelling HR and recruitment statistics to help change the way we recruit.

• On average, each corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes. Of these candidates, four to six will be called for an interview and only one will be offered the job.
• More than two-thirds (67%) of employers believe retention rates would be higher if candidates had a clearer picture of what to expect about working at the company before taking the job (AKA realistic job previews).
• The average cost to fill position is $4000 (plus onboarding and training and lost productivity from poor hires!).

Job ads can be used as an applicant screening tool and an effective brand marketing strategy. So, why aren't more employers using ads to their advantage?

What Needs Fixin'

Job ads are your greatest opportunity to impress and attract talented job seekers in a competitive hiring market.

They're an a-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-e-m-e-n-t for your organisation, for your role, and for your workplace. It is an ad. Ads sell. Stuffy job descriptions don’t.

Job descriptions inform, in great and unnecessary detail, the requirements and obligations for a role that in two years’ time will be redundant – such is the pace of technological change.

I’ll bet my second unborn fur-child the go-to job ad ‘strategy’ is to cut and paste a whole heap of verbose, out-of-date bullet points from an internal-facing-PD-that-hasn’t-changed-since-the-organisation-began-twenty-years-ago.

You know, before the Interwebs, Google, and the iPhone changed everything.

A poorly crafted job ad attracts the "I'll take anything I can get" types, which isn't an accurate indicator of values-fit or performance.

But your job ad can be a powerful weapon in your recruitment marketing arsenal to help you stand out and attract and hire the right people... the first time.

If you'd like to keep reading the full post and check out 6 simple tips to help you enliven your job ad copy - you can read the blog here.*

What's your approach to job ads and recruitment marketing? Are you already introducing ways to spice up your campaign copy? Let me know in the comments.

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* I don't mean to be so lame to send you to my blog - but it was an epic-sized post to dump into LinkedIn!

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Kelly is a recruiter who knows how to write damn good copy. She's a recruitment and employment content writer & strategist, and employer brand enthusiast. Her life's mission is to help businesses create stand-out employer brands using fun, personality-infused words. Anti-jargon. Anti-cliche. Anti-licorice. Her favourite hashtags - #stopboring #coffee #words.

www.craftmycontent.com.au

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