View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/gettingthemostfromyouronlinejobadvertisements-29.htm
Getting the most from your on line job advertisements
Getting the best from your on line advertisement is all about how to get the applicants you want to find, select and open your advertisement from endless job listings - and then be interested enough to bother to apply (especially as these days application will typically involve a registration process)
Writing an effective online advertisement is not the same as writing an advert or creating a display ad for printed media. Newspapers and specialist publications that have a job section have to some extent a captive market, whether the avid job hunter or the casual browser they tend to see the title and job content in entirety at a glance. If it is a professional magazine that for marketing, engineering or the IT sector for example, typically the audience for that advert would have already selected themselves in by choice so refining the search audience -specialist niche websites have the same effect. On the downside printed media charges more the more you write or the bigger your display, so getting a good descriptive ad in print media is still a costly business, whereas internet jobsites, including Jobmax, allow for more detail to be included allowing you (almost) limitless imagination to get your message across.
More detail means more sales opportunity for you to really promote the job - and also allows plenty of opportunity to include the keywords and phrases that will get your ad to the top of the listings - beginning with the title.
Start with a great tiltle
An effective title, apart from attracting the search engines, is the hook for the applicants you are hoping to catch. For example compare "Team Leader" (which could apply right across industry and commerce and will get you hundreds of applicants mostly inappropriate) with "Team Leader (FMCG Food) London -£25k" or "Maintenance Engineer" with "Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical) Leeds-£35k. Some sites do limit the length of the title string so discretion prevails - but always think like an applicant not a recruiter. One point to remember is that job titles vary from company to company - so if the job title given is a bit off mark in common parlance change it to something that the applicants can relate to!
Starting the advert is always a challenge - consider the need to get the key words in as soon as possible in the opening to help with the listings whilst having an opening that will draw the candidate in further. Avoid "my client" at this stage - it is a real turn off and does more harm than good. A brief summary to develop the title is good on all fronts.
The Company
If you are working on behalf of a Blue Chip company then say so. If your client is an SME then find something positive about why they are recruiting (progressive, innovative, expanding, successful or similar) to engage the jobseeker early on in the process. If you are a Blue Chip then you r name reputation and brands will probably be sufficient to generate interest, and if you are a small company looking to attract the best staff to take your company forward you need to find a point of attraction a unique selling point that will speak to and appeal to the kind of person you want for your business.
The Job
This is the point to lay out the scope of the job and the context within the company - reporting lines, up and down, key areas of responsibility and expectations, challenges and demands of the job in question. Some people find this easier to do in bullet points, but try to get the context and scope written in prose. Again think of your target audience - accountants, technical and scientific people are typically less wordy and seek unembellished facts, where maybe HR would respond to a more detailed description.
Required skills
Details of education, courses and qualifications, certification, previous experience and knowledge base are all relevant here along with specifics of software, hardware, and professional accreditation
Soft skills
Include here things like communication skills, interpersonal skills, ability to work in a team, or lead a team, ability to develop relationships with internal and external clients, decision making prowess, business savvy, drive to succeed, willingness to travel, flexibility, dealing with change and so on.
Rewards and environment
Be accurate and honest - all overblown promises here will come back to bite you. Include details of benefits and bonus opportunities, opportunity for progression, details of shift or working patterns. Work environment, (casual, formal, independently minded, team oriented) what the department is like to work in and any other relevant information
Summary and call to action
So may people miss this out - Ok so you have a decent ad now and an applicant has read to the end - then what? Ok so you click the apply button - but you could be really excited and enthused by a brief summary and reason why you should apply with a brief carefully crafted personal invitation.
Manage applicant expectation - this IS a PR exercise
If you do not have the capacity to respond include the statement here about what the candidate can expect "if you have not heard in 7 working days...." Or "only successful applicants....." whatever the process state it here. Lack of response is the biggest complaint - and not just the preserve of recruitment agencies
Free Advertising - Mad to miss it
Recent changes in legislation mean you no longer have to make the full declaration over the precise nature of your role in advertising a position - but that doesn't mean to say you should miss the opportunity to write a bit about your company or business. Most Job Boards have good traffic and wide web coverage - you would be mad not to use it to get your name out there.
Key words
Some people add key words here. Whilst it cannot do any harm I am not sure how much good they do in this location (i.e. at the bottom of the advert) other than being a chance to list all the variables on the job titles and sector. (Most job sites will give you the opportunity to add key words when you upload your job - they are useful and should always be completed as they are used in the search process to match applicants.) Will it get your job further up the listings in a key word search? Probably not. Will it get your job listed in an organic search on Google? Possibly, but probably not on the first few pages.
So in summary
- Start with a great title an open with an attention grabbing line.
Remember to include the key words in the copy as high up the page as possible to ensure you get to the top of the listings - Give as much detail as possible about the job so job seekers can make informed decisions about whether the job is for them, and screen out unsuitable candidates
- Better job copy will improve your cost and time to hire
- Write with passion and belief
- Think like an applicant
HAPPY POSTING!
0 comments:
Post a Comment