Writing an Effective / Compelling Online Help Wanted Ad
Article Title: Writing an Effective / Compelling Online Help Wanted Ad
Author Byline: Thomas Torresson
Author Website: Postbetter.com
The most common mistake that Employers make when posting a job ad online is forgetting the medium. A big advantage of online job boards is that they allow unlimited ad text in most cases. In other words, you’ll pay the same $475 on Monster.com for a 200 word ad as you would for a 2000 word ad. That is not to say that you need to go hog wild on content because it’s free (after all you want the job seeker to actually read what you have posted). It is to say, however, that there are some key points to include to make the ad work…and work well.
1. Grab the job seekers attention.
If you have a headline / slogan you can use, put it at the top of the listing…especially if it is relevant to the position.
2. Give a little history.
Summarize what it is your company does and what make is unique.
3. Give enough details about the position to make it clear what the candidate will be doing.
4. Keep ‘requirements’ brief…only listing the most important qualifications. Also, remember your audience…if you are hiring a Sales Manager with 12+ years’ industry experience, it’s safe to assume that they have computer skills….no need to list that in the ad.
5. Outline what makes this position / company special.
What are you going to offer the employee in terms of compensation or benefits? What is the culture / environment of this company? What’s in it for them?
6. Make sure that your ad is ‘keyword rich’.
Most job board search engines will search content, as well as titles / job categories. The more relevant keywords that your ad contains means better positioning in candidate search results.
7. Make it easy to apply.
If you want the candidate to apply directly into your applicant tracking system, have a direct link into your ATS system (As opposed to having them go to you site to find the career page).
In order for an ad to be effective, you need to do more than copy and paste a posting from your internal site. It does take a little effort to do it properly, but the results are well worth it.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Good article! Also, make sure to include only the requirements that you cannot live without. If you say someone needs to have a jquery javascript library and they have a different one you may miss out on a good candidate.