Ever wonder why the best talent in your market isn’t applying to your jobs? It may be something as simple as the content and structure of your employment ads. Job ad writing can be the difference between a successful hiring campaign, and struggling to fill positions.
Many employment ads read like job descriptions. They have laundry lists of company requirements, and job responsibilities. This may seem to make sense, the ad will attract only the people most suited for the position. In actual practice it drives away the people you are trying to attract, leaving only the less qualified people that do not fully read the qualifications and just apply.
The job market has gotten tighter and tighter, with unemployment rates at all time lows. This means talented candidates have a plethora of options and are considering multiple job ads. Put yourself in the job seekers shoes, and what is going to be the most important information in a job ad for you? What can the prospective employer do for me?
A motivating job ad will answer the fundamental question, how our company will improve your career and life. Here are a set of simple advertising points:
- Immediate hiring, and fast application process.
- Advertise income or expected income range.
- Do you promote from within? Write about career growth.
- Company benefits such as paid time off, health, and investment plans.
- Size of customer base, or growth of customer base.
- Schedule flexibility, such as work from home options or flex time.
- Work environment perks such as new facility, company lunches, corporate outings.
These are some of the topics to touch on in an ad. Be mindful of the length of the content. According to Indeed, readership drops over 37% when an ad is more than 350 words. So select the most meaningful benefits, and be judicious in your wording.
Everything is about motivating the top talent to apply. Using your ad to screen with requirements may reduce the amount of time and energy needed to spend on filtering candidates, but it will also discourage the best job seekers from applying. Better to get the largest pool possible that includes the best talent.
For more help on job ad writing, or anything else staffing related just ask us. We love to help.