How to Gain More Applications from your Job Advertisements

A great job advert is more than a job description, information about salary and a start date. The job of the job advert is to engage with, appeal to and attract that perfect candidate. Let’s explore how to write a top-tier job advert for a top tier company.

Recruitment costs time and money; the longer the advert is live the more frustrating hiring the ideal candidate can be. Starting at the baseline, the most effective method of driving applications for your job advert is writing a well-crafted, informative and employee-centred advert. You have your vacancy, you have the ideal candidate in mind and the talent-pool is searching for a job with an employer which is as unique as they are.

Advertising is more than a boring recruitment process – it’s a snapshot into what the company strives to be. Here are some effective and efficient tips to write a job ad which will draw in more applicants.

Avoid common mistakes

Ensuring your job advert doesn’t fall in the pit of these common mistakes when writing and advertising an open role is the first step of setting yourself apart from other job advertisements.

Poor Language Choices

It’s not uncommon to read two extremes of job adverts; the adverts which are colloquial, have poor punctuation and grammar, and are unprofessional. On the adverse, the job ad that uses excessive jargon, superfluous language and unclear salary terms is as equally off-putting and you will not get the numbers of applications you are aiming for.

A well-written post using day-to-day language will attract the right candidates.

A Complicated Application Process

Even if you have an eye-catching job advert, this work will have been in vain if your application process is off-putting for applicants. A study found that 60% of applicants fail to complete a job application if the applications process is too complex. So, simplify your application process.

It may be useful to explore a candidate portal and careers site which manages your applicant’s profiles and information on a career page making their search for and applications to a new vacancy even easier, encouraging candidates to hit that ‘submit application’ button and drive your responses to your posts.

Chunks of Text

The target audience do not want to read a job description which feels like reading an essay; keep it short and informative.

Long paragraphs which keep them scrolling are simply off-putting and time consuming. An effective job advert will outline key responsibilities of the role without the waffle. No one wants an employer that can’t clearly stipulate the job title, job description, salary and benefits in a less than 5 min read.

Top Tip: It’s a good idea to use bullet points to keep your potential applicants engaged.

TIPS FOR WRITING

An important part of driving applications in response to your job adverts is the main content and how it is written. To find top talent, you need a job ad which is clear and professional. You advert should be focused on appealing to the applicants, and putting a unique spin on the role which speaks for your employer brand.

Check the language twice

The wider the appeal of your job ad, the more effective your recruitment strategy. This starts with eliminating accidental bias when writing your post by reconsidering the demographic you may be unintentionally alienating with the language choices you make.

For example, this study found that men will apply to job ads and job openings for which they only meet 60% of the qualifications, experience and requirements. However, women will only apply for these job titles if they meet 100% of the criteria. You can explore how to decode gender bias and use language that will engage your potential employee here.

Stipulating ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’ within your job ad can increase your applications and engage talent that may have not thought they were suitable for the role.

Sell the job

The role of a job advert is to advertise an open position. Consider the job post as a sales pitch; sell the new job to potential candidates and make sure they get their applications in before the closing date.

Make sure you include what your company can offer them. In research conducted by New Deloitte Research, 40% of millennials choose their work place based upon the employee benefits and perks the company has to offer. In order to recruit this demographic and keep up with popular trends, make sure that your post advertises the amazing things that come with the job.

It is here that you can differentiate yourselves from other companies offering similar job titles with a similar salary – employees want to see what you have to offer them, not just your expectations and requirements of the role.

Something to stand out

Eye-catching job adverts are a sure way to appeal to the right people; one of the great job ad examples is UK and LA-based company Waste Creative, who, during the pandemic found a modern way to reach a wider range of potential candidates.

Waste Creative developed a virtual office on Animal Crossing, a Nintendo game where you can socialise virtually. During lockdown, offices were closed, and one way of interviewing remotely was to ask candidates to pitch their ideas within the virtual office on Animal Crossing!

Get creative with your interview process and utilise your companies creativity in attracting new employees.

Now that you’ve nailed your job advertisement, you’re going to need to streamline your hiring process!

It’s no secret that recruitment is often time consuming. With increased interest in your job advert, it is important to optimise efficiency in your recruitment process. Having an end-to-end ATS software in house optimises your recruitment process from all the way from shortlisting and booking interviews through to offering the right candidate and locking down your new hire.

An ATS which boasts a candidate screening functionality eliminates those applications which do not fit the job description and helps hiring managers to find those Tier A candidates that suit the job description. If you want to discover how to use an ATS to nail your hiring process, book a demo with Hireserve.