It pays to think seriously about creating a good job ad. Despite the fact numbers would dictate that the job market is sitting in the employers’ favour, a widespread lament heard from those in the hiring seat, is that it is seemingly impossible to attract the right people.
In the US alone, it is estimated that around 60% of companies are struggling to attract candidates with the desired skill sets. Why is it such a struggle to find the right applicants among the innumerable CV’s? What is it that is causing this process to fall short of results?
It could simply come down to the fact that your ad is not good enough.
Change the way you perceive your Applicants
You can have an eye catching title, a detailed list of requirements and an attractive salary, but this will mean nothing if it does not attract or speak to the right people. You will spend countless hours reading CVs, interviewing time-wasters and ultimately hiring out of desperation, and hiring badly.
You may be looking at recruiting in the wrong way. Instead of treating it as if you’re doing some lucky job seeker a favour by handing them employment, you should be looking at recruitment as an opportunity to attract the attention of an increasingly selective talent pool.
Quality Starts in the Foundations
Look at your business as a building and the employees as parts of its construction, and straight away you can see how crucial your recruitment process is – a bad hiring decision can do more harm than no hiring decision. If you post a mediocre ad, and get mediocre applicants, choosing the best of a mediocre selection won’t make it a good hire.
To enable you to make the best choice for your business, you need to put together an ad that will draw in those who are worth the investment. Hiring someone who doesn’t pull their weight, live up to your expectations or fit in with the company, will bring down morale as others work harder to make up for the gaps left by your latest hire – the cost of a bad hire will have a ripple effect.
Work out what kind of person might fit into your company and talk to other employees they would have frequent contact with – find out their view of the role and what kind of person it would take, then use this information when you write your ad.
Fishing with a Drag Net, not a Fishing Rod.
Another reason why writing a targeted job ad is important is that while you want the reach of your ad to be as wide as possible, you want it to only draw in candidates that are more or less in line with your ideal.
Much like a drag net – you need to spread out wide to cover as much of the ocean as possible, but is designed to let those that fall short slip through. To reach as many potential employees as possible, it is vital to advertise on multiple sites and mediums; increasing the chances of finding the perfect fit. To offset this broad approach, you then want your ad designed to ONLY draw in the candidates you’re after. This is why it’s vital to focus on who you want and what they’ll be looking for.
Remember – while there may be thousands of people looking for work, the ones you are after will also be viewed as desirable by other businesses, so you’re in competition for their interest, just as you are with your customers. This means you want your job posting to be as attractive to your candidates as you can make it.
Spend Now, Save Later
This may seem like a lot of work to put into the first step of recruiting, but if you start to view recruiting as part of your retention strategy, you will begin to notice the process becomes easier and in the long run, less frequent.
This means less time spent on the wrong people, more time to interview worthwhile candidates and ultimately an easier assimilation process between successful candidate and employee.
Poor hiring choices are costly – if you make a mistake in hiring, the cost of replacing that employee, even within the next few months, is still going to work out to be over two times that employee’s salary. Not to mention the cost of project stagnation and deadweight loss. When laid out like this, you don’t have to be an accountant to appreciate the long term implications of bad hiring strategy.
Of course, this approach is not fool-proof, no strategy is, but much like any marketing campaign, the more time spent working out how to draw in your target audience, the more success you are likely to have.
Attracting Attention, Inspiring Interest
A study by job-search firm TheLadders found almost 50% of job seekers claim to spend 1-5 minutes reading any one job ad, however when they looked at job ads under observation, it turned out the average time spent looking at an ad was 45 seconds if it did not match their skill-set, and 76 seconds if it was aligned with their skills and goals.
What this means for you, the advertiser, is you have about 45 seconds to get your best impression across, and perhaps another 30 seconds to push the job seekers to become applicants.
Another thing to remember is that job seekers will be trawling through hundreds of ads on their search, so you need to differentiate yourself. The best way to achieve this is to know what’s out there, and find ways to stand out and be recognised.
While paying for your ad to feature on a job site is a good strategy, it needs to be backed up by its content. Remember that this is your company’s version of a CV – you want it to communicate that you really care about getting the best staff you can and that you have put thought into your ad.
This means not firing off a generic shopping list of requirements, but instead ensuring your ad is engaging and informative – after all, job seekers are more interested in the job itself and your company, than they are in your list of demands.
Clarity, Energy and Accessibility
First and foremost, make sure your job title is accurate and effective. Bland titles, or overreaching ones, will put off more selective seekers.
You want to use your teaser to capture the job seekers attention, and motivate them to click on your ad and keep reading.
Once you’re in the body of the advertisement, it is wise to write a brief description of the company, and then a well written rundown of the role that is being advertised – in its best light, but still accurate. This needs to create interest and engage the reader, in order to prevent them from ‘dropping off’ too soon.
A bullet point list of hard requirements (such as qualifications, drivers’ licenses, physical strength etc) can be included here, but keep it short – otherwise it becomes a ‘reasons why you aren’t qualified for this role’ list, which can act as a barrier to some candidates and risk pushing out people who would be ideal for other reasons.
Finally, make it easy for applicants to contact you. This sounds obvious, but there are many postings where it is either hard to find where to click to apply, or that have an email contact but no phone number – both of which are frustrating to applicants. You should encourage people who want to ask questions, not deter them. There’s nothing wrong with having specific application instructions in terms of CV layout, details of cover letters or a specific process to follow – this can help with sorting CVs later.
TL;DR
- Look at job ads from the applicants perspective
- Spent time and money on recruitment, to save later
- Have a clear job title
- Use job perks/benefits to catch interest
- Talk TO your ideal candidate, not at them
- Don’t let your hard requirements dominate your ad
- Keep the seeker engaged
- Make it easy for them to contact you
- Let your company culture show
This article was kindly supplied by Haystack Jobs.