Job adverts are the bread and butter of the recruitment world. Whether you work in-house or for an agency, when you get a job requirement and once you understand it, the first thing you have to do is get the role advertised. Easy, right?
Understand the Role
You can’t write an enticing job advert if you don’t understand the position you’re recruiting for. It is more than likely that the person writing the advert will be the person undertaking the pre-screening of applicants. Every CV that lands in the inbox of the recruiter, must be scrutinised for suitability with minute detail, however if you don’t understand the vacancy, how can you effectively screen candidates successfully? You may want to pose questions to the hiring manager in order to grasp the technical aspects of a vacancy.
On the other hand, 57% of candidates find that, job ads which include recruiter jargon, annoying and frustrating. Remember that not everyone understands catchphrases used or buzzwords. Keep it simple when discussing technicalities.
Know your Market
Job advertising, year-on-year, is becoming more specialised and targeted to distinct audiences. This is fantastic news for reaching specialised skills, but for recruiters who normally advertise on one-size-fits-all job boards, this means they have to try a little harder to appeal to the right audience.
Advertising in the right place is as important as writing an amazing advert. For example, if you’re recruiting for a web developer, placing the advert on Stack Overflow or Technojobs will reach the audience you need more effectively than placing the ad in a local paper. However, if you’re recruiting for a shop assistant for a small and local business, you may need to rethink your strategy. Find out more on how Broadbean can help you reach the right candidates, at the right time and in the right place.
Don’t Copy the Copy
In-house or agency, every recruiter’s time is precious. Taking time out of a packed day to craft a beautiful advert is not realistic for some, however what you don’t want is a job spec which lacks thought and personalisation. It’s reported that, on average, a candidate will check with 14.5 different sources before they apply for a role (Source: Badri Ravi). Therefore, if your job spec fails to resonate with your audience, you are effectively disrupting their customer journey to applying for the role.
Grammar and Spelling
57% of job seekers are put off applying for a role if it contains grammatical errors (Source: Monster). If you want to be taken seriously as a recruiter, then take seriously your duty to ensure there are no errors in your job post. Correcting spelling mistakes is easy to do - everyone uses Word (or similar) and all word processing applications, including Broadbean, have speech check facilities - use it!
Answer Questions Before They’re Asked
As previously mentioned, your time as a recruiter is extremely precious but so is your candidates. Remember to ensure that your adverts answer the basics of the role; what are the duties of the position? What are the responsibilities of the role? What is the basic salary and are there benefits and/or bonuses associated with the position? Your candidate will appreciate the time saved sifting through irrelevant content.
Article by Megan Stollery
Article source (http://info.broadbean.com/blog/logistics-writing-great-job-advert)
