In continuing our review of the most important things job boarders think employers can do to make a success of advertising on job boards, we come to location. Yep, the third most important thing that an employer can do to get a better response from their job ad is to add a specific location.

It makes sense really. Nobody ever just looks for jobs. People look for jobs that they can do, in sectors that they like and in locations that they just might be able to get to. You don’t look for jobs in Glasgow when you live in Leeds. And people can be picky even in cities. It’s quite possible for somebody to be happy to work in north London but refuse, like so many cabbies late at night, to go “souf of the river.” It’s not because there is anything wrong with souf London; it is simply that it takes too long to get there. People are simply being realistic about jobs.

What’s more, while you might think that having a non-specific location will make more people see your ad, it won’t. Being more specific will give you a better chance of people seeing your job. Job board search engines work on the basis of matches. The more matches you make with a user search, the higher up the list you’ll be.

Think about this: if someone is looking for a Finance Controller job, they will most probably search according to job title, salary, and location. And those three searches will probably bring them back plenty of good matches. Your non-specific location will be a poor match for their search so it will appear way down the list. People don’t go way down the list.

There’s another reason people don’t like non-specific locations. Traditionally such “nationwide openings” have been used by recruitment consultants to get people to register with their companies. There are “lots of opportunities nationwide,” but when candidates ring up, there are no actual real jobs. So candidates tend to avoid anything that looks like a CV Phishing exercise.

People like to apply for real jobs from real companies. Adding a location to your job ad will make more people find it and apply for it.

Check out the Job Advertising section in the Recruiter Zone for more info.