The familiar saying, ‘first impressions are the best impressions,’ is not only applicable for hiring managers or interviewers alone, but also the candidates. Just like how you tend to judge a candidate based on their interview performance, the candidate does the same but based on your job post or advertisement. As you skim through numerous resumes, the candidates also skim through many or more job posts.
A job advertisement is not just a notification for a work position. It is the first impression or introduction of your company for a prospective employee and represents the company brand and standard as well. Every ad should be tailored in detail, with reference to the requirement so the candidate will gain a clear picture of what exactly his/her role would be.
It is a time-consuming process, but the amount of effort you put into your job post will determine the quantity and quality of candidates who will be applying. So, to make your advertisements seem more interesting and appealing, here are some pointers:
1. Keep a Clear and Simple Job Title
There should not be any confusion or complication in the job title since it will be the basic search keyword that candidates use, i.e, it should be SEO(search engine optimization) friendly. Most candidates will check the job description based wholly on the job title. For instance, if you write Project Manager/Program Manager, it may seem confusing. So, choose the title that is familiar to the candidates and fits your requirement.
2. Give an Engaging Intro
Start your description in an interesting manner, for example: ‘Come join our team to revolutionize a new world of networking…’ Give a 3-4 line intro about how your company came to be, your accomplishments, number of employees and work culture. Use a ‘second person’ form of speech to create a more personal approach with the candidate.
3. Briefly Detailed Description
According to recent research, the shorter the job posts, the higher the number of applicants. So it would be favourable if you can restrict your description within a 150-450 word limit and accordingly include all the relevant details about the company which would appeal to a prospective candidate and which they need to know beforehand. Include basic information such as company name, location, post responsibilities, qualifications etc.
4. Set Practical Qualifications and Responsibilities
The amount of responsibilities and level of required performance mentioned in job advertisements often seem unrealistic and sometimes do not match the mentioned position or payscale. For example, when recruiting freshers or interns, some companies tend to take them for granted and dump a whole bunch of extra or miscellaneous tasks with the justification of ‘gaining experience’ in the field. So ensure only essential responsibilities and achievable performance level are mentioned.
5. Mention Salary and Benefits
When a company shows transparency in terms of salary amount and benefits of the respective work for the future employee, the candidates will feel positive and confident in applying for such a trustworthy organisation. So avoid mentioning ‘negotiable salary’ or hiding the salary amount and benefits, it will only demotivate prospective candidates from applying. They may also set their search filters within a particular range of expected salary and your job may not fall under that radar if you don’t mention it.
6. Easily Understandable and Relatable Content
Your job post should sound professional and easy to understand at the same time. You can break your description into bullet points wherever necessary, so the candidate will get to know the qualifications and responsibilities at a glance. Avoid using overly complicated words and keep it simple and direct to the point.
7. Check out The Competition
Always stay updated on current job ad trends by checking out similar or competing companies’ work posts. You can do a comparison study on the title, description and manner of speech they have used. This will help in tweaking and improving your content accordingly. You can also refer to famous recruitment sites such as Indeed and LinkedIn.
8. Ensure Gender Equality
A commonly found error in job postings is using gender-biased language for general job positions. This lowers the chances of finding the right candidate and creates a misconception that the company functions unfairly. The main purpose of a job advertisement is to recruit the right skilled and experienced individual, irrespective of sex. So use neutral wordings or incorporate both genders by using ‘his/her’.
9. Eye Catching Social Media Post
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are some of the trending social media platforms for job postings. The mode of advertising requires more visual appeal and striking phrases. So highlight the best and unique aspect of your company and job role for attracting candidates. Do not forget to include contact details or relevant links for application.
10. Proofread and Grammar Check
After completion of your post content, always do a proofread and grammar check. There should not be any typos or confusion in the content as it may affect the way in which candidates perceive the standard of your company. You can take the assistance of tools such as Grammarly or let another person proofread to finalise the content.
