" alt="">03.09.2015
The Secret of Writing Great Job Adverts
How to write job advertisements that appeal to the perfect candidates for you.
With an increasing skills shortage in many of the region’s growth sectors, the need to stand out from the crowd when recruiting has never been more important.
There are countless ways to approach hiring new staff but, unless you’re exceptionally well connected, or the role is very niche, the recruitment process will almost certainly include some kind of job advertisement.
A.I.D.A. (attention, interest, desire and action) is the old marketing adage said to describe the mission of every successful advert; and the same can be said when looking to enlist new employees:
Attention:
You gain attention in the job market by offering benefit and, when time is someone’s most precious commodity, you need to think very carefully about the first words you use.
You must consider who the perfect employee is and find a way to attract them to your advert, so they look at it and begin to read.
All too often people forget job advertising is meant to be creative. Consider your ‘headline’, which in recruitment is almost always the job title, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead, try using more persuasive words to connect with job seekers on an emotional level.
Interest:
Successful adverts are simple and direct, so if you know the qualities of the person you’re looking for, make it clear.
By resisting the temptation to charm the masses you will get the right people reading on and that’s what you’re trying to achieve.
Write specifically for those you want to respond and tell them what’s in it for them. This will tie them in to the advert, but you must make sure the benefits and opportunities are genuine, as if not, this will impact heavily on the recruitment process further down the line.
Desire:
This is the part where you have to convince future employees that the best thing they can do right now is apply to join your company.
You need to overcome all of the objections they might have telling them not to submit an application.
Consider doing this through sensible reasoning and don’t be afraid to repeat key benefits more than once. This will only reinforce the messages you want to get across most and, hopefully, ensure they register fully with the reader.
Action:
Hopefully your advert has offered some good enough reasons to take action, so try to get people to act immediately by being very specific about what it is you want them to do.
Make sure your contact details are clear and correct. Don’t add any extra barriers to the process that might put applicants off. Make sure the way to respond is as quick and simple as it can possibly be.
Advertising is one of the very few mediums you can completely control, so it’s worth taking your time to make sure you get it right.
When it comes to job adverts, often the urgency of filling the role takes over and there’s a temptation to go down the quick and easy route of replicating a job description.
I’m not sure what your job descriptions are like, but I’ve seen a lot over the years and can safely say this is not the way to excite and enthuse the very best people to come and work for you.
It’s important to think carefully about what you want and then, how you are going to position your vacancy as an opportunity to that perfect employee.
After all, it’s not about views, likes or click-throughs here; it’s about quality job applications.
