Here's A Surefire Way to Write the Best Job Ad!

You're tasked to find a candidate to fill an open position in the organisation. Where do you start? Here are some suggestions to get you started on writing a persuasive job advertisement

Preparation is key

Before you sit down to post a job ad, it's essential to make sure you know what it is you're looking for. Even if you only want to replace an existing employee, a position can change focus and develop new responsibilities. Discuss the open position with the team or manager to find out the skills and other fundamental requirements. Through preparation, you will filter out the wrong candidates.

The main issue is not collecting the most applicants, it's about collecting the most qualified applicants.

Focus on the job title

The job title is critical. It's the principal part of the ad that will persuade candidates to read the job description and apply. Your goal is to get an adequate supply of qualified candidates, so you have to make sure the title is clear and specific. You should also include focus keywords, sector and the seniority level of the vacancy.

Based on a study by InRecruiting, you should not use quirky titles. One might think calling a Marketing Director a "Marketing Rockstar", but the problem is that most candidates will only search for "Marketing Director" instead of "Marketing Rockstar". It also does not help that the title does not explain what the position is about.

If you're not confident what will work for the job your advertising, you can try A/B testing. If you use a couple of different titles, you'll be able to compare them to see which one has better results.

A/B testing

A/B testing is the act of running a test between two or more variations of pieces of content to see which converts the most leads. In this situation:

Variation A is the original job title.

Variation B is the job title you wish to use

You will then send an email blast to promote an open position to your candidate pool. 

For example, if you have a candidate pool of 300 candidates, send Variation A to the first 150 candidates and Variation B to the other 150 candidates. Then, compare which variation attracted more applications. You can use that variable as the final choice for the job title.

Job title is the most important aspect of a job ad.

A template can be helpful

A job ad needs to be straightforward and easy to understand to your candidates. When you're writing your job descriptions, remember these essential details:

• Job Title, Company, Location
• Job responsibilities: Proposed goals or tasks that the successful applicant will take on in this job, and how this will serve the organisation or team.
• Skills requirements: Hard or soft skills and attributes. You can add whether the skills are necessary or advantageous to the role.
• Rewards/Benefits: Just like a salary range, candidates want to know about benefits, such as flexible working arrangement.
• Company Description: What does your business do? Describe the industry you are in and how the open position fits in with the team.

Tell the candidates why they should work for your organisation

You want candidates to take job ad seriously and put time and effort into their applications. Why? So that you'll know who the qualified candidates are before they come in for an interview. Think about what it is that will attract them.

After writing what your candidates can expect when it comes to rewards and benefits, you should also give an overall glimpse of your employer brand. Candidates want to know if the organisation they're working for has a good reputation.

Job adverts can be tricky, but by keeping it simple and focusing on what matters to job candidates, you will have no problem attracting them.

Source: Cezanne

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