How can you make your job ad stand out amongst the many others looking for the same role? Writing an advertisement can be a timely exercise if you haven’t got a recruitment services company working for you. Wayne Fleming of Flexi Personnel has shared some tips to make your job advert stand out, while still targeting the right audience.
The Title
The first thing any job seeker will see of your advertisement is your title, so it’s important that it grabs their attention.
How to make your title draw in the talent by standing out:
- Be straightforward and specific. To get the right people applying for your job, make sure that your title explains exactly what the job is. People often skip over job advertisements that aren’t specific enough and talk around what the position actually is.
- Be creative and fun. If you are seeking younger or more jovial applicants, make the title catchy e.g. “Administrative Aficionado”. You can make it specific to the type of people that you are trying to attract by putting buzzwords in the title to jazz it up.
The Body
The body is where you tell the job seekers all about the position, what you will expect of them, and what they should already have under their belt to be considered.
What not to include in the body of your advertisement to make it stand out:
- A detailed company history. It is not necessary to write a long description about your company and what they have done in the past as people are less likely to read this and will most likely either skip to the bottom or move on to another ad. If you want the right candidates to apply, they should do their own research prior to applying to see whether they want to work for your company. At the very most, you can provide a link for further information.
- Vague description of what the job entails. People need to know what they are getting themselves into when they apply for the position, and having firm guidelines on what they will be doing from day to day will attract the candidates who are willing to do these tasks. Make sure that you outline what they will do specifically and give examples.
The Selection Criteria
Selection criteria is a very important part include in any job advertisement as it is how you tell the job seekers what they need to be considered for the position.
What will make this section stand out:
- Bullet points. List all of the criteria in a well formatted bullet point list to address each part separately. Job seekers can then tick off each part as they read through it to know whether they are applicable for the position.
- Put technical criteria at the beginning and personality criteria at the end. A lot of companies hide their qualification specifications in the lower portion of the selection criteria, but putting it at the top will show a level of honesty about what you are looking for, rather than talking around the point. Put the personality traits at the bottom so that if the job seekers have got all of the technical specifications covered, they can then see if they would fit in socially with the company and position.
The Contact
The contact point is crucial as you need to make sure that you give the job seekers only the contact information that you will respond to.
What you should include in the contact section to make it stand out:
- A name of who is dealing with the hiring. It may be frustrating having people trying to contact you by name, asking for more information about the position, but this can also work in your favour to wheedle out who is actually paying attention. If you include a contact name, if their cover letter doesn’t address the name given, then they have not personalised the letter for your position and have used a generic template.
- A number if you are willing to take phone calls about the position. Do not put this in if you are not going to take calls about it as it will ruin you and your company’s credibility. For example, if you give out your office’s number, and then won’t talk to anyone that calls, then you risk losing potential employees because you look unprofessional and unhelpful.
You are now ready to publish your job advertisement. When you start receiving applications, make sure that the cover letters address every part of the selection criteria, that they have address it to the right person, and that they have mirrored the tone of the advertisement. All the best, and happy recruiting!
Wayne Fleming specialises in recruitment and HR consulting at Flexi Personnel. His passion for aiding business’ find the right staff is what drives him. He also hopes to help job hunters find the right position for themselves with his wealth of knowledge and advice.
