Hiring talent has never been so tough. Businesses are competing like never before to offer the right packages and incentives to help them recruit effectively. But with so many job ads needed, they are often written by HR or recruitment teams, or hiring managers with little writing experience. So it’s not surprising that some of the essentials of an effective job ad can fall between the cracks.
Tell us about you
A good job ad can be the difference between finding the right candidate and missing out. It is the first impression prospective employees will get of your firm. So it needs to strike the right tone, pique the interest of candidates and highlight the responsibilities of the role – all while demonstrating why your business offers the right environment for a candidate.
Effective ads need to convey a lot of information in not a lot of words. They’re both a science and an art and need to address the ‘what?’ – descriptions of the job itself, its benefits and responsibilities – and the ‘why?’ – what your business can offer the candidate – of the job.
But although job postings are important to every business, not all hiring managers and leaders have the same confidence, time and writing ability to get job ads right. And with businesses sharing vacancy details across their own sites as well as through recruitment partners, it’s all too easy for inconsistency and inaccuracy to creep in.
What makes a good job advert?
Following best practices across your different job postings, channels and noticeboards can help you protect your employer brand and highlight the value of your employee value proposition. So what’s in a good job ad?
1. Keep it short and sweet
Job adverts have a lot of ground to cover. So it might seem counterintuitive that the key to a good posting is to keep them short and sweet. In reality though, postings above 600 words can often be too long to capture the attention and can even lead to important information being buried in too many words.
The focus should instead be on listing important details – the ‘what?’ – in digestible and scannable ways, like bullet points. That said, there’s also a balance to be struck between using too many bullet points and lists and missing out on the tonal and branding benefits of short and effective sentences that help you address the ‘why?’. In practice, it should look something like this:
‘We’re driven by our passion for change and our drive to help businesses tell their sustainability story. Join us and you’ll:
• Manage a range of exciting projects
• Benefit from a collaborative and supportive environment
• Be rewarded with a generous bonus scheme’
2. Mind your tone
Building inclusivity into your ad helps attract a wider selection of candidates to apply for your job. On the one hand, this can involve taking a closer look at the language choices you make, as some common phrases can appeal to certain candidates but at the risk of putting others off.
Words such as competitive, champion, fearless and decisive are masculine-coded and can risk deterring female candidates from applying. Others, such as dependable, honest, loyal, interpersonal, are more feminine-oriented.
Equally, you may also need to adapt your ads to fit the changing expectations of different generations. Data from the Centre for Ageing Better, an organisation campaigning for age-friendly policies at work and in society, shows that more experienced workers are more likely to apply to jobs where flexible working arrangements are advertised. But with flexible working only appearing on one in 20 job ads, businesses that do offer flexible working could be missing out on experienced individuals by not making it clear enough.
3. Why you? Why now?
Good job ads don’t just sell a role to a candidate – they should also sell the business, its ambitions and goals too. Whether your firm is recruiting off the back of recent growth, project wins or to add new skills and experience, your ad should connect the dots behind and explain why you’re looking for new staff members.
Why is the role needed? What is the problem that needs solving and why might the person reading the advert be the right person for the job? With more context around the role and its value, candidates will be more informed, in turn helping you attract individuals with a better understanding of the role and the business’ aims.
4. Clarity is key
To cast the widest net, job descriptions should avoid overly technical language. Not only can it make an ad less likely to be read, it can also make it harder for key details to be identified and understood. Some roles are, of course, more technically oriented. But instead of using complex vocabulary to communicate this, details of the technical skills should be included as part of the role’s specific qualifications.
Keep it consistent
Maintaining a consistent approach across all of your job ads – whether on your company website or distributed through recruitment agencies – can help you attract the right talent for your roles. But if inconsistent ads and poorly written job descriptions are hampering your business’ recruitment efforts, it might be time to work with a specialist copywriting agency that knows how to get recruitment copywriting right. Get in touch today and find out how we can help you win with words.
