Job Ads That Target The Right Candidates

The recruitment process within any industry can be tricky and the key to filling a job role is to source the right candidates which can be even tougher in today’s competitive world. In order to capture better candidates for new roles you must not only expand your network and take a look at new ways to advertise, but you should also improve the way you write your ads too!

The best people for the job are most likely those who are already in a job. If you get your job description right this could be a great way to attract these passive candidates too.

Let’s dive right into how to improve your current job adverts:

Review the job title

If you log into LinkedIn or any other job posting platform for that matter you might have come across a trend where recruiters put in the job title a mix of words such as ‘ninja’ or ‘guru’. Although these don’t apply to every industry you have to think about how candidates are going to search and find your advertised job role.

Chances are candidates are going to be using Google or job boards to find new roles so if you keep the job title as something, it standard will make the role more searchable to more candidates.

Write a job description that works

Many recruiters stick with what they know when it comes to writing job descriptions. But if you really analyse what works and what doesn’t it could be the difference of gaining the best candidates or not getting much interest at all. A couple of top tips when writing job descriptions include:

Use short sentences & bullet points
Talk about the company culture
List the salary (Job ads with a listed salary attract up to 75% more clicks)
Speak to applicant directly so they can imagine the job that why will be doing

In fact, in a recent study, researchers looked at how recruiters write their job descriptions split into two groups. Those descriptions that focused on what the employer is wanting from the candidates and those focusing on what the employer offers to candidates. The ads focusing on the applicant were three times more likely to get higher quality candidates.

Essential vs good to know skills

Candidates can be put off applying for a job if the essential skill list is long. Try to be mindful of what essential skills candidates will need for the specific job role and anything else that could be a great fit add it in a ‘good to know’ skill section. That way you can still filter out those who aren’t right for the job but you will also be able to reach more candidates for the job.

Personalise the ad

As a recruiter you will know exactly who you are looking to hire. Don’t be afraid to use their technical language or make statements and ask questions that will directly appeal to them. This will ensure you target the right kind of candidates too. Think about what the ideal candidate would want from the job and focus on that.

Use your new video skills in a job description

Lately all of us have been working from home and have had to utilise video conferencing. You could apply this concept to your job description! Video marketing is so huge right now so you could share a video where you describe what the ideal candidate is, this will give the opportunity for candidates to virtually meet you and even see the work environment before applying for the job. This will drive the best fit candidates to apply for the job and will give you a competitive edge in a highly competitive market.

Once you have worked on your job adverts, you will start attracting the right candidates. Being creative and spending more time to get the ads right will save you a lot more time in the future. That way you can spend more time on placing candidates into the right roles!