How to write a job ad5 min read

The quality of your job posting will determine the quality of your candidates. At Jobboard Finder we see how many recruiters struggle to attract the right candidates and it is often due to poor or incomplete job descriptions. Knowing how to write a job ad with the right amount of information is very difficult and it takes up a lot of valuable time.

For this reason we have decided to gather some key elements to help you write appealing job adverts and improve your recruitment campaigns. Read on to find out more!

At Jobboard Finder we insist on the importance of a well written job advert as it will determine the interest and appeal the offer will receive from candidates. The better informed the candidate is, the more interest they will develop and the better the pool of candidates you will get.

 

The Key elements are:

• Position title
• Company Name, Logo and History
• Job description
• Skills and qualifications required
• Working Hours
• Salary
• Location

Position Title

This is the first thing candidates will read. Futhermore, in many job boards, the keyword typed in the search engine is the position itself. As a recruiter you must decide how specialised your candidate has to be and adapt the position title accordingly.

As a general rule, keeping it simple and explicit is enough. Do not exaggerate the role. Using buzzwords such as ‘amazing’  or ‘guru’ are generally only a good idea if you are targeting younger candidates.

Company Name and History 

The name of the company and the logo should be clearly displayed. Unless you’re a big corporate, in most cases, candidates won’t know your brand.

Add a brief description of what you do, your values and objectives. Don’t go too much into detail about the history of your business. Even though it might be impressive, don’t forget to mention upcoming projects or some of the clients you currently work with as well. This will give an insight into your business and how prospective employees would be contributing to its future development and success. You can also highlight some features that might be unique to you and that your competitors might lack ( be it generous retirement contributions, free training courses, tuition remboursement or child care asistance)

A great and often used tool to do this is through a Company Video (to find out more, check out or article on How to create the perfect company Video) .

Job description

It is recommended to add a brief introduction of the vacancy offer just below the position title in order to quickly catch the reader’s attention and encourage them to keep reading.

However, the most important aspect is the job description itself. Candidates will often lose interest when reading offers because they are either too descriptive or too brief. Ask current employees or someone who has completed the function to tell you all about it. Once you have the essential information you can proceed to write the job ad.

Here are some of the things you can include:

• The exact role within the company. How the position contributes to the company
• Which actions they will have to complete, why and what for. We recommend you add the percentage each task involves. This will help the candidate know what is expected from them and see if they’re suited for the job.
• Explain what a typical day at work would entail
• The hierarchical structure. Who will be supervising them? The department they will part of and its size
• Use templates available to you in many job boards. Some platforms offer examples for specific industries or popular positions. You can also look at offers in those same job boards to see what your competitors write or ask for

Skills and Qualifications

Make a clear distinction between skills and qualifications required and be as specific as possible. We recommend you select only the essential ones (no more than jkl10 and save the others for the selection process.

Some skills include: leadership, autonomy, computer literacy (the exact software/programmes), strong communication skills, commercial awareness, problem solving, organisation, confidence, languages, leadership, teamwork…

Show the exact level of education or training required. : language certificate, Bachelor, Phds, Masters,

Working Hours

The exact working hours should be shown. Here you can specifiy if employees are required to work outside office hours, during weekends and if they would have to commute. You will want candidates who are commited and will accept to work under these conditions from the beginning. If for example you have a shuffle service or you pay for half of the transportation costs, this section to specify it in.

Salary

It is best to show a salary range. Make it a competitive amount similar to what your competitors offer and  that will at the same time allow you to modifity it according to qualifications and years of experience of the candidate.

Location

Full address must be shown. You can also add further information about the avantages of your workplace or the area you are based. For example, the neighbourhood, restaurants, gyms, supermarkets, shopping area… Employees will be spending 40 hours a week there so help them envision what it would look like.

Jobs requiring relocation are harder to advertise as not everyone is willing to move to another city/country, leaving friends and family behind. Sell the destination! You can focus both on the professional and personal development opportunities you have to offer. For example, if you’re targeting middle-aged candidates you might want to focus on advantages for their families and highlight options like good schools and the quality of life.

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For both employers and job seekers, Jobboard Finder is the first decision-making tool for recruitment campaigns and job searches. By gathering tools and services that recruiters can use to search and compare employment websites from all over the world to find the best job search sites, it really is the best solution for recruitment needs. Today recruiters can also purchase job advertisements for the media they have selected and manage their postings directly from our unique platform. Then they can rate and review the job boards they have used in the past for our community of professionals to see.

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