Employers should maximize their investment on their recruitment program by creating an effective job advertisement that is sure to both promote their company and attract high-quality candidates. Although there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for a successful job posting, these simple tips can be leveraged to help compose an effective job ad:
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Communicate a mutually beneficial message. Tell job seekers about the opportunity, not just the position available. Cite unique selling points of the position – not just the salary and benefits - that may differentiate your position from the rest and make this opportunity an attractive opportunity.
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Utilize well-known and familiar job titles. Include job titles that candidates will recognize so they can easily locate your position when performing a job search. Job seekers can be confused or mislead by job titles that are not clear, so it is best to be very specific so qualified candidates don’t skip over the job posting. This simple trick can help to immediately increase the quality of your results.
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Use strategic formatting. Utilize HTML and bullet points to make important parts of their job ad stand out. Simple formatting will help grab the attention of qualified job seekers. If your job ad is easy to skim and requirements are clearly stated, you’ll avoid resume overload while gathering a great pool of candidates.
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Include key words and phrases. Incorporate key words and phrases into their job ad to increase the chances that job seekers will find their listing among similar job ads. Identify keywords that all potential candidates would use to search for your position, not just words you use to describe it internally.
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Provide candidates with an overview of your company. Many candidates are interested in learning more about a company’s corporate culture, so employers should include this information within their job ad to help make the overall position more attractive to potential candidates.
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Avoid exaggerated verbiage. While the use of marketing-oriented language in a job ad is appropriate, do not go overboard. The best and brightest candidates can easily detect exaggerated language in job postings and excessive use of buzz words or overrepresentation of the opportunity may discourage them from applying.
- Review prior to posting. When writing a job posting, employers are representing their company. Therefore, it is important to use a clear and professional writing style and review the job posting to ensure it does not include any misspelled words or misleading language. Consider using a buddy system to review the posting to be sure that it communicates all critical points of the job.
I hope you have found these tips helpful. If you have any more best practices to add, I'd love to hear from the readers on what tips or tricks have worked for you in the past to create a successful job ad.
