Writing job ads for job sites

Published: November 22nd, 2011 in the Writing Job Ads in Online Recruitment.

Customer service person on the phone

Writing job ads for job boards and recruitment websites is a little different to writing job ads for other recruitment media.

Knowing how job sites work and how job seekers use them will help you write an effective job ad.

How job sites work

On a typical job site there can be tens of thousands of job ads from recruitment agencies and employers. Job seekers do not trawl through all these jobs in the hope of stumbling upon their dream job. Instead, they actively search the site using keywords to find only the jobs they are interested in.

For example, a candidate might search a job site for jobs using the keywords “Administration Assistant, London, Media sector, £24,000.” The job site search engine will then find all the job ads in its database that contain these keywords and return them in a list. Jobs ads that contain all the keywords will be at the top of the list, with those matching fewer keywords coming next. What’s more, for most job sites and job boards the most recently added job ads will be ranked higher than older ones.

Choosing keywords for your job ad

Obviously, choosing the right keywords is essential if your job ad is going to be a success. So, how do you go about choosing the right ones? Actually, it is pretty straightforward. Think like a job seeker and try to find those terms that they will use when looking for a job like yours. These keywords will revolve around a number of areas — position title, job location, salary and/or industry sector being the most common. But you can also think about including keywords to do with professional qualifications, programming languages, software packages, languages etc.

Position Title in your job ad

Use commonly-used position titles. If your vacancy is for someone to help with administrative tasks, call it an “Administrative Assistant.” A job seeker looking for that kind of job will more likely search for an “administrative assistant” than “office all-rounder” or a “departmental support person” or whatever internal term used in your company. Choosing the right position title will get more relevant people looking at your job.

Location in your job ad

To make sure that people looking for administrative jobs in London find your administrative job in London, put “London” in the job description and/or in the location field. You will get more people looking at your job if you are precise about the location. If you can be more precise even better. Are you North or South London. West end or the City? People like to know where the job is.

Some companies like to put “nationwide” in their job ads because they have lots of jobs across lots of locations. Unfortunately, many job seekers will view a “nationwide” job sceptically — such generic locations are often used by disreputable recruitment agencies advertising fake jobs in an effort to attract CVs.

Salary on your job ad

If there is one thing above all others that employers do wrong in the job ad, it’s not including a salary. Include a salary!

There are many good reasons why you might not want to include a salary in your job ad, but not including one will damage your response. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that response to ads with no salaries is 50% lower than those that with salaries.

Why are salaries so important? Well, people want to know what they job is paying. It’s as simple as that. And not only is salary what drives most people to get up in the morning and go to work, but a salary on a job ad can also give a job seeker an indication of the level of experience required by the recruiter.

For example, a Business Development Manager in Telecoms with a basic of £21,000 and an OTE of £32,000 is a very different proposition to a Business Development Manager on £55,000 and OTE of £100,000. Including a salary allows candidates to pre-select themselves, thus reducing work for you later.

If you don’t want to be specific about a salary you can indicate a salary range. Put “£20,000 to £25,000″ or “up to £25,000″ or “circa £23,000.” But be sure to put something.

Sector

Many people work and choose to work in a particular industry sector. People in the hospitality sector, for example, are passionate about it and would seldom think of leaving it. Online media is similar. Be sure to bear this in mind in your job ad. Being specific about an industry sector will allow more relevant and suitably-skilled candidates to find your job. What’s more, a person with three years’ experience in your sector will be far more valuable than a person with no experience at all.

Qualifications, skills etc.

In many professions qualifications are very important. In accounting, for example, it’s ACA, ACCA, CIMA. In IT, programming languages are often important; in design, it can be software packages. Does your job ad require specific qualifications? Be sure to ad them.

Putting it all together in the job description

In the job description you bring it all together. You should tell the candidate exactly what they will be expected to do, what duties and responsibilities they will have and the reporting lines. Be clear about what educational requirements, qualifications, skills, aptitudes and previous work experience are necessary to do the job â€•as well as those that you consider desirable. Outline the challenges of the job but also what the job may lead to.

Remember to tell candidates how to apply. You can ask candidates to mail a covering letter and CV but nowadays people prefer to apply by email or via an online form. Providing a telephone contact for more senior roles is often advisable as such senior staff often like to speak to someone about the job before beginning the application process.

Keep your ad concise. Long job ads are generally off-putting. Aim for an absolute maximum job description of 400 words. In reality, you should be able to cover everything in far less. Use bullet points for the important points. Use active language rather than passive. For inspiration search job sites for well-written jobs similar to yours.

Sell, sell, sell!

Remember to sell the job. There’s a big difference between someone finding your job ad and actually applying for it. Sell your job. Tell people how great the opportunity is. And sell your company too. Candidates choose a company as much as they choose the job. If you are a successful, growing business, with huge potential in an exciting market then say it. Include a salary.

Talk about benefits like cars, pensions, health care, bonuses, gym memberships as these can be extremely attractive to candidates. Paid-for training is also an important issue for many. Provide links to your website and even to awards that your company may have won. Good candidates prize information and insights that allow them to make a good application for the job. If your company has a Facebook page, or a Linkedin group be sure to mention it.

Watch the response

Keep a very close eye on your response especially in the first week of advertising. If you are getting the wrong type of candidates then make changes to you job ad and repost it. If you can’t see what you are doing wrong, then talk to your job board about what they would recommend to improve response.

Example job ads

Finally, to give you an idea of a good and bad job ad here are two real ones we found (details have been changed to protect the identities of the companies.)

Example 1:

“Good office all rounder wanted for small company.”

Yes, that’s it. That’s all they wrote. Would anybody apply for that?

Example 2:

“Administrative Assistant wanted for a young dynamic and friendly media company. Based in exclusive offices in London’s West End, duties will include office administration, diary scheduling, telephone answering, client visits and attending industry-networking events. Excellent organization skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines essential. Must be familiar with MS EXCEL and knowledge of POWERPOINT an advantage. Answering to the Managing Director, the role has the potential to develop into Office Manager for the right person. Starting salary of £23,000 with BUPA and gym membership and annual bonus that can amount to £1,000.”

Which one would you apply for? It’s quite clear that the more effort you put into your vacancy advertisement the better the pay off for you. You are competing for the best people with hundreds of other companies and you are, in all probabililty, offering the same job at the same salary. You have to give someone a reason to choose to apply for your job rather than someone else’s. If you want to find the best person for the vacancy in your company, you’re going to have to write the best vacancy ad.

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