skip to Main Content

Tips For Writing A Job Advert

Tips For Writing A Job Advert

Creating the perfect job advert is key to attracting talent. If your job advertisement fails, you won’t get many people applying for your job opening. Here we provide tips on how to write a job advert to bring in relevant candidates.

How To Write A Job Advert

Job Advert Writing Tips

Writing an effective job advert is marketing. As a business owner, hiring managers, or hiring professional, you need to create a catchy advertisement that won’t fail to catch the attention of your target audience a.k.a. job seekers, and encourage the right people to apply for the position. A good job advert can help you increase the number of applicants and as such increase the chances of getting a quality new hire.

It might sound obvious, but job adverts are intended to find the right candidate, but by the same token, job adverts should be aimed at deterring the wrong candidate.

So, here are some top tips on writing the perfect job advert.

The Right Approach To Creating A Well-Written Job Advert

What style or approach should you use for your job advert when you have job vacancies? When writing a job advert, to make it successful you need to treat it like any other piece of advertising, and so it needs to have certain characteristics for maximum effect:

1. YOUR JOB ADS NEED TO BE ACCURATE

Ensure what you are saying is factually correct and free of errors.

2. YOUR JOB AD NEEDS TO BE CONCISE

Less is more in this case, so keep to the topic but ensure the key information and key selling point is put across. Consider writing a one-liner at the very start of the advert that succinctly describes the role and draws the reader into finding out more about your company story and the vacant job title.

3. BE POSITIVE TO ATTRACT TALENTED INDIVIDUALS TO A NEW JOB

Remember you want to enthuse prospective candidates about you, your company culture and the job, so keep things upbeat. But, don’t fill your job description full of hyperbole and buzz-words – you still want to be approachable to your ideal person.

4. MAKE YOUR JOB AD PERSONAL TO ATTRACT CANDIDATES

To help the ideal candidate relate to the role or the company, help them to visualise the business role responsibilities and activities they might undertake and with who they could be interacting with, either colleagues or customers. Use examples such as “You’ll be working on…” or “Leading a team of enthusiastic and young professionals….”

What To Include In A Job Advert

What content should be in a job advert? It might be obvious to a hiring manager or HR professionals, but there are basic elements that your job advert must have within it to draw your dream candidate into taking the next step, either starting the application process or contacting you for more information about the role or your hiring process.

The following items should be in your advert to attract great candidates:

  • Details of the business including name, location, markets/type of business, target customers, website address, etc.
  • Job title and description, including a purpose for the job. Job titles should accurately say what the role is and you should consider what potential candidates may use in search engines.
  • Headline terms and conditions, including any special factors pertaining to the job.
  • What experience and qualifications you want.
  • Soft skills, required skills, and qualities you look for in a successful candidate.
  • Reward package to include financial and non-financial (salary range, working hours).
  • Next steps in the recruitment process – Is there a deadline? Is there an interview, if so what sort? Who to contact for more information?

Don’t give everything away in the job advert as you will want some stuff to keep back either for candidate enquiries or for use during the interview.

Remember to keep it short and simple (it helps to use bullet points), but give enough information to enthuse the reader and get the best candidates interested in applying, if they think they are suitable.

If you are ready to post a vacancy and hire successful candidates, we recommend reading How to Advertise a Job next. To attract a successful applicant, you may want to use our job description format found in our job description templates.

Back To Top