The Importance of Job Adverts
Unless you are very lucky and have a waiting list of people wanting to work for you, recruitment is all about the job advert – at least to get someone hooked.
I have looked at many job adverts, both as a potential employee and more recently when supporting clients to recruit for key roles in their hospitality business. I’ve also had to recruit for unpaid positions; think about how hard it is to recruit for paid positions never mind voluntary positions!? I have seen excellent job adverts, just OK adverts and some really, really bad ones. And guess what, so has anyone else and they know the difference.
What makes a great job advert? Well the definition of an advertisement ‘the means of communication in which a product, brand, service or vacancy is promoted to a viewership in order to attract interest, engagement, and sales’. When you read your advert does it pique your interest? In the same way that a customer looks at an advert, do you think a potential candidate would get excited about your advert?
Key markets
Browsers, active seekers and the maybe it’s time for a change…. Job advert is part of the Employer Brand – tone (friendly vs formal), language and style should be aligned with your branding
Top tips :
How often do you see LinkedIn polls asking whether the salary should be included in your job advert? It’s seems opinion is often divided, however as the employer you know exactly what you will pay, even for the really excellent candidate. By including the salary, or a salary range, you have the applicant hooked and that helps them make the decision that the potential reward is worth all the effort of applying for this role
Remember a job advert is not a job description. If we marketed our products and services to customers as a description rather than an advert, people quickly switch off. Certainly, you will need to outline what the role and responsibilities are but the advert shouldn’t be chapter and verse
Tailor your job advert according to the role – less is more for non-managerial roles, the more senior the role the more detailed information you may choose to provide but keep the tone and language the same to ensure the brand message is clear
Always start with a brief blurb about your company – but make sure it’s Employer Brand led i.e. don’t describe your business, tell them what you stand for and why is your business unique.
Drop in a line outlining the working hours and shift patterns
Next outline what’s in it for the potential employee. What are the additional rewards and benefits the employee can expect? Do you offer employee discounts, do you offer weekly or fortnightly pay, do you offer team events and celebrate employee and company achievements?
Now you can outline what the key responsibilities (not all) of the role and some of the attributes you are looking for in your new hire.
Market leading job adverts include a video
Some who do it well https://www.mbcareersandjobs.com/ - keep it friendly and simple.
Good luck with recruiting your future stars in 2023!
