Advertising A Job: 4 Expert Tips For Engaging Potential Candidates
With effective job ads, you can make sure that you’re engaging ideal prospects with the right message and driving applications from high-quality candidates. Here’s how.
Creating compelling, informative, and accessible job ads is a key part of attracting the right talent for your business.
Although it can be tempting to rush your job postings, particularly if you’re in urgent need of new hires, it’s important to think carefully about the ads you’re uploading online.
With expertly-crafted job ads, you can capture the attention of the best candidates, excite them about your organisation, and encourage them to apply.
(Working alongside a recruitment agency like Matchtech can also be hugely beneficial in this department, as specialist recruiters will understand how to create highly effective job postings that are tailored to your industry.)
Let’s take a look at 4 tips that will help you to successfully advertise future roles and drive applications from quality candidates.
1. Write clear and concise job posts
Many job seekers will be browsing through a lot of different job postings online, so it’s important to keep your ads simple and accessible.
Avoid huge chunks of text and long-winded paragraphs. Instead, focus on delivering scannable sentences, eye-catching headlines, and easily digestible details about the position.
According to research, job ads containing 100-300 words receive 8.4% more applications than ads containing 300+ words. On average, the majority of job seekers will also spend just 14 seconds deciding whether to apply or not, so make every word count!
2. Produce search-friendly job ads
If you want to reach and engage a broad, relevant audience, you’ll want to make sure your adverts are easily searchable on platforms like Google, Indeed, and LinkedIn.
Job boards like Indeed use algorithms to determine which adverts are most relevant to specific job searches in order to deliver suitable results, so it’s very important to understand this system - and use it to your benefit.
To help increase the visibility of your adverts in relevant search queries, use simple, standardised job titles, avoiding internal terminology or unnecessary detail in the title section.
This will help your job ads to gain more visibility in search results through exact/close matches with job seeker search terms, as you’ll be more closely aligned with the way in which prospects are searching. Indeed’s system will work to reduce visibility for adverts with long titles full of excessive information, as it views this as a poor candidate experience.
By keeping things simple, you’ll enable your job postings to effectively gain more traction.
The more streamlined and standardised your job titles are, the easier they’ll be to discover for your target audience. It’s also a good idea to include any key supporting details at the beginning of your copy, such as “100% Remote” or “Full Time Contract.”
(However, you should bear in mind that overloading your job posts with unnecessary keywords will actually have the opposite effect on visibility! Only include these phrases where they fit naturally.)
3. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes
Whenever you’re writing up a job ad, think carefully about the details that your ideal reader would like to see, and the order of importance from their perspective.
We know that the majority of prospects will often make a decision in a matter of seconds, so what’s the most important detail or selling point that should be highlighted first to encourage them to read on?
Studies show that compensation (e.g. salary, benefits) is viewed as the most important aspect of a role by 61% of candidates. If you lead with this type of information, you’ll have a much better chance of generating interest in the position.
If you’re looking to hire contractors, be specific about the location of a job, the start dates, and the rates they can expect. The faster prospects can discover this key information, the more chance you have of driving an application.
You should also pay close attention to any gender-coded language that may have slipped into your job post; an advert filled with inclusive language is more likely to appeal to a broad, diverse audience. There are several online tools that can support you with this, such as the TotalJobs Gender Decoder.
(For more expert advice on eliminating unconscious bias from your hiring process, take a look at our detailed guide here.)
4. Clarify the next steps
Once you’ve created an eye-catching job post that’s packed with key information, there’s just one thing left to do - tell the reader how they can apply.
It’s important to make the next steps abundantly clear for prospects, so take a moment to inform them of what to do if they’re interested. If there’s an application deadline, highlight this to create a sense of urgency.
You can also provide an idea of what’s involved in the application process to help manage expectations and reduce dropouts.
For example, inform the reader about any face-to-face interviews or technical assessments that may be required after a successful application.
To ensure a clear and seamless application process, always include details about:
- Where the reader can apply (e.g. on LinkedIn or an external website/platform)
- Specific deadlines for an application
- The basic information they’ll need to provide
- Any interviews, tests, or submissions that may be required
By keeping your job ads simple, focusing on the details that job seekers care about, and making the next steps crystal clear, you can drastically improve your chances of finding the perfect candidate for the role.
If you’d like some expert guidance when writing your next job posting, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Matchtech - our recruitment specialists will help you to craft highly effective job ads that attract industry-leading talent.
Ready to hire? Send us your vacancy details now.
Looking for more advice and useful resources about attracting candidates? Click here.