Please note.
While this article is written for the New Zealand market, the principles apply equally to anywhere in the World.
Writing a Job Ad can be a daunting task especially if you don't feel you have any flair for this sort of thing.
Never fear, it can be reduced down to a simple set of processes which I will explain here.
Following these instructions you will be able to write an effective ad that will attract the Candidates that you are looking for and minimise the replies from unsuitable Candidates.
Be aware that writing job ads is like advertising in general, everybody has a different opinion on what works and what doesn't, these processes have been honed over many years of attracting excellent Candidates for specific jobs.
The Candidate Before we start writing we must first understand the kind of Candidate we are looking for.
It sounds obvious but in a lot of cases it's the job that gets focused on, not the person that you want to do the job.
When writing, try to imagine who you are looking for, the sort of characteristics they will have (be that be personality, education, qualifications or experience) and what will attract them.
A lot of ad writers believe, perhaps arrogantly, that good Candidates will be falling over themselves to work for their company.
I feel it is best to assume that the person you are looking for does not necessarily want to work for you unless you 'sell them' on your position and company, after all you are after the best that you can get, within a budget.
Job Boards and How They Work.
Title and brief description.
The likes of SEEK and TradeMe, unlike a printed ad, show the Candidates the Job Title (or ad headline) and a very brief synopsis.
These are critical in grabbing good Candidates attention and making them 'click through' to the actual ad, if you can't grab their attention here then they are never going to apply.
The Ad: This is where you get to expand on the role.
We usually break this down into 5 specific areas
This is where you get to choose the industry that ad is tied to and of course where the job is located.
Salary.
You can choose whether or not to display the salary but you need to specify the salary range (this is not displayed) for the search engine.
Writing Your Ad Heading / Title (Job Title) and Job Summary If you are familiar with advertising you will realise that these are Critical items to get right.
Get this wrong and a Candidate will skip right over your ad and move on to the next one (probably a competitors).
The good news is this is usually fairly simply when writing job ads, just use the Position Title.
In most cases this works very well unless your job title is obscure or could mean different things to different people or industries.
For instance and Architect has a very different meaning between the Building and ICT industries.
Think about the Title does it elegantly and succinctly describe the role, if it does use it, if it doesn't think of one that does.
The Job Summary sits just below the Job Title and it's job is to elaborate on the title.
The Job Title gains their interest and it's the Job Summary that makes them 'click through' to the ad but you don't have many characters to do it with so now it's time to be creative.
This needs to be very descriptive and you would do well to think about the role from the Candidates point of view.
Do you work in a great location, is it a forward thinking company, room for progression? Just remember it must grab attention and leave them wanting to know more.
The Body (or Copy) of the ad I usually start with the Job Summary as done above, usually in bullet points.
This reminds them why they wanted to know more, especially if they have printed or saved the ad and don't see Job Title and summary any more.
A brief description of the company and the role.
Try not to get too carried away here, just let them know who you are and what you do, remember they might not have heard of your company.
Maybe something like...
ABC Limited, importers of extremely high end furniture, are looking, due to a large increase in business, for an outstanding Customer Service person to assist our exclusive clientèle in our luxurious showroom in Parnell.
This leads on to what/who you are looking for.
I personally prefer bullet points as with these you can convey information very succinctly without long winded paragraphs that slow reading and often form a barrier to the Candidate applying further.
An example carrying on from the above ad...
Are You:
If you have preferences that are 'nice to haves' you can list them below this under the title of Highly Desirable such as...
Highly Desirable skills
This is your chance to let them know what's in it for them.
You can tell them about who they report to particularly if this is a senior position or the fact that the company uses the latest software/hardware.
Do you offer an excellent package or perhaps free car parking, are on the train route or offer flexible hours and don't forget about the salary, even if you pay the same as your competitors you can still jazz it up, have a look at the example below...
ABC Limited rewards hard work and acknowledges personal accomplishments.
You will receive a remuneration package in keeping with your experience and the opportunity to mature and progress in a fun and exciting environment, for a company that is forever growing.
We offer flexible working hours and have car parking on site.
It is important to remember to use the language that your potential Candidate would use, don't use technical or industry slang unless the position is a highly technical one.
Now tell them about what is expected of them.
This can be thought of a very brief Job Description.
Try to keep it to a short paragraph, this means you will need to be very concise.
You may find yourself repeating some of what you've already said, that's fine, remember one of the golden rules of advertising, repetition, repetition.
It might read something like...
Reporting to the Sales Manager you will be responsible for the assistance of both walk-in and phone-in Customers.
Ensuring that their enquiries on our furniture items are answered in a timely and professional manner.
You will also be responsible for ensuring stock levels are kept at the required levels and in assisting the Import Manager with the importation documentation and assist the Warehouse Manager in arranging deliveries.
Now that they have got this far, don't leave them hanging, make it easy for them to apply.
Usually our call to action is simply...
If this sounds like you, please click the submit button.
Your application will be held in the strictest confidence.
If you would like further information please phone or email ...
on ...
Personally I like to keep it as simple as possible, too much here and you can sidetrack or derail the application.
An important note is if you have a system where you want the Candidate to apply in a different way to how the job board wants (via an ATS's (Applicant Tracking System) own web address or by some other method) be very careful as this can add an extra barrier to Applicants.
Be especially wary of requiring the Candidate to complete a questionnaire during the application process, while this may weed out the applicants that you don't want it may also weed out the 'Stars' that you do want.
If you want to use a questionnaire we have found it to be far more effective after the Candidate has applied and generally after you have reviewed their CV as they will be feeling more like they are being moved through the process rather than being weeded out.
So your ad will look something like this: Customer Service Star
Well not quite, just a few administration tasks now.
Important Points to Remember Categories.
What industry Category and sub category do you choose.
Often times this is easy but sometimes you really need to think about it.
Once again think about your ideal Candidate, where would they search.
Also you can search similar jobs on the Job Board and see where others have placed their ad.
Location.
Once again a no brainer, usually, but just keep in mind what you are trying to achieve, are you looking for someone local or do you want to throw the net wider.
This is a judgement call, specific to each role Salary.
Do you display salary or not, once again everybody has their own opinion.
My personal opinion is the default is to display the salary range.
There is ample evidence out there that ads that display the salary get not only a better response but a better quality response.
Make sure that you have a good reason if you are not going to reveal the salary.
A Word About Layout.
Layout is important, often as important as the content.
If your ad does not attract some one to read it then even the most eloquent prose is for nothing! Font: Font is important as is the size and colour of the font.
It is best to stick to the usual Times New Roman or Arial (or your systems equivalent) as they are proven to easy to read (that's why newspapers use them).
White-space: You may think leaving a lot of blank space is a waste of money, after all you are paying for it so let's cram as much information in as possible.
Most of the time less is more, you want to get your message across in as little time as possible, remember you have to gain this Candidates interest in 9 or less seconds, a page of large paragraphs is not going gain anybodies interest.
Use white space to draw the reader to the next point.
Leave a space under each of the main sections explained previously, this allows the reader to pause momentarily.
Formatting: Don't get fancy with background colours with a font colour that is hard to read against it, either because it is a contrasting colour or is too close to the background.
Keep the size of the font for the body of the text between 10 and 14pts, 12 is best, once again this is proven to be the easiest to read.
14 - 20 pts for headings.
Use italics and bold sparingly, they are great for highlighting important parts of text but if you use them too much it will slow the reader down.
Do not use all upper-case, even in the titles.
Upper-case letters have no word-shapes that make them very difficult to read and also make reader feel like they are being shouted at.
Try to use justified text, it makes everything look nice and tidy which is inviting for the reader.
Bullet points are great for conveying a lot of concise information quickly, but use no more than 50% of your ad with them.
Graphics and Logos: By all means use your company logo but make sure that it is not overpowering, keep it to, at the most, 10% of the ad space.
Graphics usually distract from, rather than add to an ad, it is best to avoid them.
Questionnaires: If your application process requires the Candidate to fill out a questionnaire (an attempt to weed out unsuitable Candidates) then you are doing yourself a dis-service as you are also discouraging a large percentage of Candidates.
I personally consider it rude to try to pre-qualify Candidates like this if you haven't even taken the time to look at their resume.
The best time for such a questionnaire is after the Candidate has applied as it then becomes part of the recruitment process and not the application and will actually build rapport rather than destroying it.
More of this in the next instalment.
Spelling and Grammar: Critical aspects, especially if you are advertising senior positions and there is no excuse these days for spelling errors with spell check built into most everything.
Grammar can be a bit more difficult, especially if English is not your first language.
I find it best to read the ad out loud and carefully, if it flows easily then you are probably OK however always get someone else to read the ad to confirm it is right.
If you don't think this is important, think about receiving a CV riddled with spelling errors and poor grammar.
Tech Talk and attempts at humour: Try to avoid Tech Talk, acronyms and jargon, it makes your ad hard to read if the reader has to constantly think about what you are trying to say and may miscommunicate your message.
Be very careful with humour, most attempts fall flat and worse can be offensive to some.
AIDA: Perhaps this should be at the beginning, AIDA is an mnemonic for...
A - Attention, grab you readers attention, headline or opening statement.
I - Interest, fuel your readers interest with with the body of the ad.
D - Desire, create the desire to do something about what you advertise.
A - Action, a call to action, don't leave them wondering what to do next! This is essential for writing any sort of advertisement including online job ads.
Check-list: -Job Title Does it explain the role, if not change it -Job Summary Draw the reader in make them want to read what you have to offer.
-Copy Make sure you know what sort of Candidate you want to attract and then speak to them, use the language they would use but avoid technical terms and jargon.
-Call them to action Let them know what they need to do next.
-Encourage your reader Make sure that there are no barriers to them reader further, try to look at your ad from their point of view.
There it is, 5 easy steps to creating an effective online job ad.
Now go forward and attract those 'star' Candidates.
Next issue: Assessing and qualifying Candidates.
How to ensure all your hard work in attracting the perfect Candidates doesn't go to waste.
Remember advertising is only one way of attracting Candidates and often the best Candidates are not actively looking, they more than likely wont even see your ad let alone apply.
These are the passive candidates and often they are the best Candidates and you need to reach out to them.
More about this in an upcoming issue.
While this article is written for the New Zealand market, the principles apply equally to anywhere in the World.
Writing a Job Ad can be a daunting task especially if you don't feel you have any flair for this sort of thing.
Never fear, it can be reduced down to a simple set of processes which I will explain here.
Following these instructions you will be able to write an effective ad that will attract the Candidates that you are looking for and minimise the replies from unsuitable Candidates.
Be aware that writing job ads is like advertising in general, everybody has a different opinion on what works and what doesn't, these processes have been honed over many years of attracting excellent Candidates for specific jobs.
The Candidate Before we start writing we must first understand the kind of Candidate we are looking for.
It sounds obvious but in a lot of cases it's the job that gets focused on, not the person that you want to do the job.
When writing, try to imagine who you are looking for, the sort of characteristics they will have (be that be personality, education, qualifications or experience) and what will attract them.
A lot of ad writers believe, perhaps arrogantly, that good Candidates will be falling over themselves to work for their company.
I feel it is best to assume that the person you are looking for does not necessarily want to work for you unless you 'sell them' on your position and company, after all you are after the best that you can get, within a budget.
Job Boards and How They Work.
Title and brief description.
The likes of SEEK and TradeMe, unlike a printed ad, show the Candidates the Job Title (or ad headline) and a very brief synopsis.
These are critical in grabbing good Candidates attention and making them 'click through' to the actual ad, if you can't grab their attention here then they are never going to apply.
The Ad: This is where you get to expand on the role.
We usually break this down into 5 specific areas
- A brief description of the Company and the Role.
- An "Are You/Do You" section
- What's in it for the Candidate.
- Description of the Role.
- Call to action
This is where you get to choose the industry that ad is tied to and of course where the job is located.
Salary.
You can choose whether or not to display the salary but you need to specify the salary range (this is not displayed) for the search engine.
Writing Your Ad Heading / Title (Job Title) and Job Summary If you are familiar with advertising you will realise that these are Critical items to get right.
Get this wrong and a Candidate will skip right over your ad and move on to the next one (probably a competitors).
The good news is this is usually fairly simply when writing job ads, just use the Position Title.
In most cases this works very well unless your job title is obscure or could mean different things to different people or industries.
For instance and Architect has a very different meaning between the Building and ICT industries.
Think about the Title does it elegantly and succinctly describe the role, if it does use it, if it doesn't think of one that does.
The Job Summary sits just below the Job Title and it's job is to elaborate on the title.
The Job Title gains their interest and it's the Job Summary that makes them 'click through' to the ad but you don't have many characters to do it with so now it's time to be creative.
This needs to be very descriptive and you would do well to think about the role from the Candidates point of view.
Do you work in a great location, is it a forward thinking company, room for progression? Just remember it must grab attention and leave them wanting to know more.
The Body (or Copy) of the ad I usually start with the Job Summary as done above, usually in bullet points.
This reminds them why they wanted to know more, especially if they have printed or saved the ad and don't see Job Title and summary any more.
A brief description of the company and the role.
Try not to get too carried away here, just let them know who you are and what you do, remember they might not have heard of your company.
Maybe something like...
ABC Limited, importers of extremely high end furniture, are looking, due to a large increase in business, for an outstanding Customer Service person to assist our exclusive clientèle in our luxurious showroom in Parnell.
This leads on to what/who you are looking for.
I personally prefer bullet points as with these you can convey information very succinctly without long winded paragraphs that slow reading and often form a barrier to the Candidate applying further.
An example carrying on from the above ad...
Are You:
- Impeccably presented
- Eloquent
- Minimum 3 years Customer Service experience
- Client Focussed
- Proficient in the use of MS Excel
- Able to work independent..
...
etc.
If you have preferences that are 'nice to haves' you can list them below this under the title of Highly Desirable such as...
Highly Desirable skills
- Importing licence
- Diploma or higher in business
This is your chance to let them know what's in it for them.
You can tell them about who they report to particularly if this is a senior position or the fact that the company uses the latest software/hardware.
Do you offer an excellent package or perhaps free car parking, are on the train route or offer flexible hours and don't forget about the salary, even if you pay the same as your competitors you can still jazz it up, have a look at the example below...
ABC Limited rewards hard work and acknowledges personal accomplishments.
You will receive a remuneration package in keeping with your experience and the opportunity to mature and progress in a fun and exciting environment, for a company that is forever growing.
We offer flexible working hours and have car parking on site.
It is important to remember to use the language that your potential Candidate would use, don't use technical or industry slang unless the position is a highly technical one.
Now tell them about what is expected of them.
This can be thought of a very brief Job Description.
Try to keep it to a short paragraph, this means you will need to be very concise.
You may find yourself repeating some of what you've already said, that's fine, remember one of the golden rules of advertising, repetition, repetition.
It might read something like...
Reporting to the Sales Manager you will be responsible for the assistance of both walk-in and phone-in Customers.
Ensuring that their enquiries on our furniture items are answered in a timely and professional manner.
You will also be responsible for ensuring stock levels are kept at the required levels and in assisting the Import Manager with the importation documentation and assist the Warehouse Manager in arranging deliveries.
Now that they have got this far, don't leave them hanging, make it easy for them to apply.
Usually our call to action is simply...
If this sounds like you, please click the submit button.
Your application will be held in the strictest confidence.
If you would like further information please phone or email ...
on ...
Personally I like to keep it as simple as possible, too much here and you can sidetrack or derail the application.
An important note is if you have a system where you want the Candidate to apply in a different way to how the job board wants (via an ATS's (Applicant Tracking System) own web address or by some other method) be very careful as this can add an extra barrier to Applicants.
Be especially wary of requiring the Candidate to complete a questionnaire during the application process, while this may weed out the applicants that you don't want it may also weed out the 'Stars' that you do want.
If you want to use a questionnaire we have found it to be far more effective after the Candidate has applied and generally after you have reviewed their CV as they will be feeling more like they are being moved through the process rather than being weeded out.
So your ad will look something like this: Customer Service Star
- Parnell Location
- High end, sort after product
- Great salary
ABC Limited, importers of extremely high end furniture, are looking, due to a large increase in business, for an outstanding Customer Service person to assist our exclusive clientèle in our luxurious showroom in Parnell.
Are You:
- Impeccably presented
- Eloquent
- Minimum 3 years Customer Service experience
- Client Focussed
- Proficient in the use of MS Excel
- Able to work independently
Highly Desirable skills
- Importing licence
- Diploma or higher in business
ABC Limited rewards hard work and acknowledges personal accomplishments.That's it, you have written an effective Job Ad.
You will receive a remuneration package in keeping with your experience and the opportunity to mature and progress in a fun and exciting environment, for a company that is forever growing.
We offer flexible working hours and have car parking on site.
Reporting to the Sales Manager you will be responsible for the assistance of both walk-in and phone-in Customers.
Ensuring that their enquiries on our furniture items are answered in a timely and professional manner.
You will also be responsible for ensuring stock levels are kept at the required levels and in assisting the Import Manager with the importation documentation and assist the Warehouse Manager in arranging deliveries.
If this sounds like you, please click the submit button.
Your application will be held in the strictest confidence.
If you would like further information please phone or email ...
on ...
Email: Please click the 'Apply Now' button below.
Well not quite, just a few administration tasks now.
Important Points to Remember Categories.
What industry Category and sub category do you choose.
Often times this is easy but sometimes you really need to think about it.
Once again think about your ideal Candidate, where would they search.
Also you can search similar jobs on the Job Board and see where others have placed their ad.
Location.
Once again a no brainer, usually, but just keep in mind what you are trying to achieve, are you looking for someone local or do you want to throw the net wider.
This is a judgement call, specific to each role Salary.
Do you display salary or not, once again everybody has their own opinion.
My personal opinion is the default is to display the salary range.
There is ample evidence out there that ads that display the salary get not only a better response but a better quality response.
Make sure that you have a good reason if you are not going to reveal the salary.
A Word About Layout.
Layout is important, often as important as the content.
If your ad does not attract some one to read it then even the most eloquent prose is for nothing! Font: Font is important as is the size and colour of the font.
It is best to stick to the usual Times New Roman or Arial (or your systems equivalent) as they are proven to easy to read (that's why newspapers use them).
White-space: You may think leaving a lot of blank space is a waste of money, after all you are paying for it so let's cram as much information in as possible.
Most of the time less is more, you want to get your message across in as little time as possible, remember you have to gain this Candidates interest in 9 or less seconds, a page of large paragraphs is not going gain anybodies interest.
Use white space to draw the reader to the next point.
Leave a space under each of the main sections explained previously, this allows the reader to pause momentarily.
Formatting: Don't get fancy with background colours with a font colour that is hard to read against it, either because it is a contrasting colour or is too close to the background.
Keep the size of the font for the body of the text between 10 and 14pts, 12 is best, once again this is proven to be the easiest to read.
14 - 20 pts for headings.
Use italics and bold sparingly, they are great for highlighting important parts of text but if you use them too much it will slow the reader down.
Do not use all upper-case, even in the titles.
Upper-case letters have no word-shapes that make them very difficult to read and also make reader feel like they are being shouted at.
Try to use justified text, it makes everything look nice and tidy which is inviting for the reader.
Bullet points are great for conveying a lot of concise information quickly, but use no more than 50% of your ad with them.
Graphics and Logos: By all means use your company logo but make sure that it is not overpowering, keep it to, at the most, 10% of the ad space.
Graphics usually distract from, rather than add to an ad, it is best to avoid them.
Questionnaires: If your application process requires the Candidate to fill out a questionnaire (an attempt to weed out unsuitable Candidates) then you are doing yourself a dis-service as you are also discouraging a large percentage of Candidates.
I personally consider it rude to try to pre-qualify Candidates like this if you haven't even taken the time to look at their resume.
The best time for such a questionnaire is after the Candidate has applied as it then becomes part of the recruitment process and not the application and will actually build rapport rather than destroying it.
More of this in the next instalment.
Spelling and Grammar: Critical aspects, especially if you are advertising senior positions and there is no excuse these days for spelling errors with spell check built into most everything.
Grammar can be a bit more difficult, especially if English is not your first language.
I find it best to read the ad out loud and carefully, if it flows easily then you are probably OK however always get someone else to read the ad to confirm it is right.
If you don't think this is important, think about receiving a CV riddled with spelling errors and poor grammar.
Tech Talk and attempts at humour: Try to avoid Tech Talk, acronyms and jargon, it makes your ad hard to read if the reader has to constantly think about what you are trying to say and may miscommunicate your message.
Be very careful with humour, most attempts fall flat and worse can be offensive to some.
AIDA: Perhaps this should be at the beginning, AIDA is an mnemonic for...
A - Attention, grab you readers attention, headline or opening statement.
I - Interest, fuel your readers interest with with the body of the ad.
D - Desire, create the desire to do something about what you advertise.
A - Action, a call to action, don't leave them wondering what to do next! This is essential for writing any sort of advertisement including online job ads.
Check-list: -Job Title Does it explain the role, if not change it -Job Summary Draw the reader in make them want to read what you have to offer.
-Copy Make sure you know what sort of Candidate you want to attract and then speak to them, use the language they would use but avoid technical terms and jargon.
-Call them to action Let them know what they need to do next.
-Encourage your reader Make sure that there are no barriers to them reader further, try to look at your ad from their point of view.
There it is, 5 easy steps to creating an effective online job ad.
Now go forward and attract those 'star' Candidates.
Next issue: Assessing and qualifying Candidates.
How to ensure all your hard work in attracting the perfect Candidates doesn't go to waste.
Remember advertising is only one way of attracting Candidates and often the best Candidates are not actively looking, they more than likely wont even see your ad let alone apply.
These are the passive candidates and often they are the best Candidates and you need to reach out to them.
More about this in an upcoming issue.
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