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When it comes to recruitment advertising, regardless of your industry, it’s important to do what is necessary to ensure success. From the initial job board contract to writing your advertisement, never lose focus on what it is you may need to attract the best talent.
Many forget that the job advertisement is the first communication you have with a candidate, which brings it to the forefront of your recruitment strategy as one of the vital elements that makes it work.
A job advert can be the difference between the right candidate applying, an influx of the wrong type of people, or barely any applications at all. With this in mind, we look at seven of the most common recruitment advertising mistakes.
1. Using an Odd Job Title
The job title you use should be something recognisable. Try to avoid using quirky job titles to attract candidates, these can be humorous but aren’t easily found or picked up by job seekers.
Take a look at what job titles are already being used for the type of role you are looking to advertise. This can steer you in the right direction, and will allow candidates to find your advert with ease.
2. Leaving out the Salary
There is less likelihood of an application being made if the salary is not displayed on the advert. If there isn’t a specific salary for the role, or if it is to be negotiated, look to include a salary banding as a minimum.
3. Grammar and Spelling Errors
If you’re a candidate looking for a job, there isn’t much else that will put you off as quickly as bad spelling or grammar mistakes. This immediately looks like no effort has been made with creating the job advert, and this will certainly deter candidates.
If you don’t have a copywriting team, look to spot check your job advertisement by passing it to different colleagues to check for and avoid any potential mistakes.
4. Forgetting Keywords
How searchable is your advert? Much like the job title, seek to include relevant keywords that job seekers are prone to use when searching.
Repeat the job title and relevant keywords throughout the job advert. This will increase the ‘ranking’ of the advertisement to ensure it is seen by a greater number of potential candidates.
5. Ignoring Reader Experience
Is your job advert easily readable? The focus should be to avoid lengthy paragraphs and mundane copy. The way candidates feel about your job advert will consequently be the way they feel about your company.
Your opening paragraph is the first thing applicants will read after the title, so keep this (as well as the rest of the copy) informative, yet upbeat and snappy, to keep your potential audience engaged and wanting to find out more.
6. Minimal Information
Applicants need to know the basics. If there isn’t enough of the essential information about the job, there probably isn’t enough to persuade job seekers to apply.
Leaving little information on a job advert will only result in a low application rate. Include all of the essentials, such as company information, required skills/qualifications and clear aims of the position.
7. Poor Job Board Management
Once it has been written, think about where your job advert is being posted. Ask questions such as: Is it a niche role? Will I need specialist job boards? Should I post on LinkedIn?
Do your research; there is nothing worse than advertising a role or putting out a recruitment campaign and receiving no response. Seek to know your job boards to look at attracting the most relevant audience.
To look at attracting the most relevant audience, make sure to build strong partnerships with your recruitment advertising suppliers. They’re experts in their fields, and should be set up to help you achieve your internal KPIs.
Conclusion
In essence, you are selling an opportunity to someone. And a job advert is a short piece of content that’s there to sway an individual on whether they would like to do this job or not, so it needs to be well put together.
Recruitment advertising is a crucial part of your hiring strategy. Therefore, aim for great content, vast reach and targeting to ensure you catch the attention of top talent for the business.
Interested in learning more? Check out some of Webrecruit’s top resources below:
Unite Students: A High Volume Recruitment Case Study
8 Key Differences you Need to Know Between a Job Description and a Job Advert
