6 Tips For Creating A Job Ad

Writing a good job posting is not easy. There is nothing worse than posting your ad online and not receiving any response to it. If you want to attract and find the right candidates, you need to do it right and make creating job ads an art that you master well. So what are the keys to success for creating a job ad that does appeal to candidates and make them want to apply to your position?

Here are 6 tips to get you started:

  1. Catchy job title

First impressions last right? The first thing candidates read of your job ad is the job title and if that doesn´t make a great impression, they might not be interested. Make sure to create a catchy job title that immediately catches the attention of those candidates that you want to attract. Don´t go with the obvious job title of which you will see various similar postings, get a bit more creative.

  1. Focus on nice-to-have instead of must-have

Many job descriptions are just filled with all kinds of requirements and usually there are so many requirements that it is almost impossible to comply with all of them. Having too many must-have requirements might scare away some great candidates that might not comply with all of them but that do have the potential to develop. By listing too many hard requirements in your job ad, you might actually miss out on a lot of talented candidates. Therefore, focus on nice-to-have requirements instead to open the opportunity up for much more great candidates.

  1. Talk to the candidate

Try to talk directly to the candidate instead of to some fictive third-person candidate. Sentences like “the ideal candidate should…” are not too appealing. Instead write to the candidate, “you should be able to…”. By getting rid of the third-person description, you will establish some sort of trust and appeal to the candidate much more.

  1. Focus on challenges instead of monetary rewards

Most job descriptions list the monetary benefits of the position, maybe they don´t mention the exact salary but usually there is a range (or that it is a competitive salary for this industry) and a list of benefits like bonuses, car allowance, flexible benefits etc. Not too many job descriptions focus on the challenges, hence by doing this your ad will appeal more to the candidates with drive and ambition instead of to those just focusing on monetary rewards.

  1. Ace the short description

When you are preparing the job posting, you need to be aware that much more people read the short description than those that actually click through to the ad itself. This means that you really need to nail the short description in order to encourage people to click through to the actual job posting. The more people clicking through, the higher the chances that you will find the right candidate.

  1. Don´t make it sound too good to be true

And finally, don´t make your job ad sound too good to be true, don´t exaggerate and paint the whole picture much nicer than it is just to attract the right candidate. Generally, this will only attract candidates with unrealistic expectations and under-performers. In addition, even if you are lucky and you can hire the right candidate, as soon as this new employee will find out that the reality is a lot less nice than what was sold to him or her before taking the job, they might be quick to pack their bags again and leave. Just be honest in your job descriptions and tell it as it is, this will avoid unpleasant surprises on both sides later.

 

What other tips do you have for creating a good job ad?

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