4 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Job Ads

Job ads. They're a necessary part of what we do, yet just the very mention of them still strikes fear into even the most senior of recruiters. They're long, they're tedious to compose and, for many recruiters, they usually garner little engagement. In fact, less then 10% of those people who read a job spec actually engage with it, and that's just the 10% of people who actually found the ad and bothered to read the whole thing from start to finish. That is until now!

Here are 4 simple ways to instantly improve the job ads you write and increase the engagement and responses they receive:

1. Think About It As Advertising

Most recruiters make the initial mistake of thinking that their role is to 'post' job specs, when really what they are trying to do is advertise the jobs they have on offer. Essentially, you are selling your job to potential candidates, and just as if they were buying a consumer item, you are trying to convince them that your job is superior to both the one they already have and the others out there. Therefore, you need to make your offer enticing to the reader, much like the Cadbury's ad above does for chocolate lovers.

2. Write It, How You'd Say It

Question: Would you ever read a job spec verbatim to a candidate over the phone? Answer: No, you wouldn't. It's too cold an approach and, it doesn't come naturally when you're having a genuine conversation with a candidate you feel is a great fit for the role at hand. So ask yourself, “how would I sell this job over the phone”?

If you're looking to hire a Social Media Manager, then only Social Media Managers and the like will be interested and looking at your job ad in the first place. If you were speaking to a Social Media Manager over the phone you wouldn't feel the need to tell them what a social media manager does, they already know that, so why do it in a job ad? On the phone, you'd use Layman's terms to explain why this job, in particular, suited the candidate's particular skill set. You would sell them the role. You would tell them how they'd fit in culturally, and what the benefits of such a role, in such a company could mean for them, so do just that in a written job ad.

So next time you're about to jot down a set of bullet points listing what the job entails, stop and think about how you would sell the job over the phone.

3. Bold the Keywords

Just bolding the keywords within your job ad could potentially double the number of applications your job ad receives. Not too long ago, Monster.com split tested one of their job ads and found that the job ad containing bolded keywords including specific skills or benefits, received double the applications the job ad without bolded keywords did. So get bolding!

4. Include the Boring Stuff Last

By boring we mean, all the details that are essential for the potential employee to know, but that won't sell the job straight off the bat. By all means include what the role of Social Media Manager contains, what the hours are, the extended history of the company and what the salary is, but be sure to include all of this detail at the end of the job ad. Always lead the job ad with the exciting, enticing message of why this job is perfect for the right candidate.

Now that you know what to do to improve your job ads, why not take the time to improve your job advertising social status updates? Click here for 5 Ways to Improve Your Job Advertising Social Status Updates. And as always see our Training page for more info on how to become a Sourcing Ninja or download our course prospectus.

Source: socialtalent.co/

Collected by Nhu-Vu SAPUWA