You would think the answer is quite obvious, and being such a key part of the recruitment process to get right, you would think that this is an area that hiring managers, directors, business owners & the like would spend the most time on, ensuring they get it right. Wrong. Just take a couple of minutes do a quick job search on indeed within your industry, and within the first couple of listings I bet you’ll see either a job ad containing just 2 short sentences, or a job ad with loads of spelling mistakes, or someone has just copied and pasted a job spec, full of jargon and about 3 pages long! You’ll probably soon come across all 3.

So, lets just cover the main purpose of a Job Advert…

1. To communicate & sell the opportunity to potential applicants
2. To outline key tasks & responsibilities without sounding like a job description
3. To make the grass look greener (without bending the truth) – why is this opportunity better than the job they currently have?
4. To subtly repel unsuitable candidates who do not have the experience you require
5. Ultimately, to get suitable candidates to apply for the job

What you need to remember is that around 75% of all potential applicants are in work right now – working for one of your competitors. Within this 75%, you are most certainly going to find the best calibre candidates.

The 75% that are currently working, are very time poor – so if they are searching online, they are only doing this either at lunchtime or early evening, most likely whilst they’re eating their tea after a bad day at the office.

With this in mind, you firstly need to ensure that you advert is fully optimised and appears towards the top of the listings, if not – the very top. The potential applicant needs to click the job title and then you need to quickly address the applicants subconscious question of – what is in it for me?

You need to hit their emotional buttons & influence them into applying for your job. Job seekers have become job shoppers!

Remember – the main goal is get them to click the apply button and turn them into an applicant!

So, the next time you hear recruiters, employers, friends & colleagues moaning how job adverts & job boards don’t work anymore. Is it any wonder they receive a poor response? The quality of their job advert is crap.

At Blue Rocket, we are experts in all things recruitment advertising & marketing, so if you’d like any advice or you would like to learn more about our online recruitment advertising solution, please get in touch, we’d be delighted to hear from you 🚀🚀🚀

Here at Blue Rocket, we’ve put together 6 of the most common hiring mistakes, with some advice on how best to avoid them…

1. Not asking the right interview questions

A lot of hiring managers do not take the time to prepare properly for interviews. This means that interviewers can end up just asking superficial questions about previous experience and not really probing a candidate to see how well they will do in the job & if they have the right skills.

2. Not recruiting for a cultural / team fit

Whilst recruiting different personalities with different views, should be seen as a positive – it is important that any new member of staff fits in with the rest of the team. Similar ethics & values, should keep you on the right path.

3. Automatically rejecting overqualified candidates

When initially shortlisting CVs, it can be tempting to take out any candidates who exceed the required experience. You may think that they will not be challenged enough & get bored, or will move on as soon as a more challenging position presents itself. However, think of the advantages taking on someone with more experience & additional skills. This can often outweigh any possible downsides and ultimately, you could get a lot more for less.

4. Missing the opportunity to sell your company

In a candidate short market, job seekers have a lot more choice and often will be presented with a handful of job offers. So, with more competition than ever for the very best candidates, you need to sell your company in the interview. Why should this candidate want to work for you? What is important to them? Talk about the future, talk about your values, the team and of course any benefits, like flexible working or regular social activities.

5. Writing BAD job adverts

Go on indeed.com & take a couple of minutes to scroll through a few jobs either in your town or sector, or both and it won’t be long before you come across a number of really poor written adverts. These adverts have been written with no thought going into them & probably within just a couple of minutes.

Surprisingly, its not always smaller companies who are guilty of this, but large corporates also, and even recruitment agencies, who should really know better – they should be experts at this?

Firstly, you need to optimise your advert so it appears towards the top of the listings, if not – the very top. You need to get the job seekers attention so they click, then you need to hit their emotional buttons – answer the question of what’s in it for me?  Then, influence them into applying for your job. Job seekers have become job shoppers.

6. Only having a small pool of candidates to shortlist & hire from

As with most things in life, the more options you have the better the decision-making process. So, with your recruitment advertising it is vital that you maximise your exposure and this will significantly improve application rates & ultimately give you more choice to hire from.

We would certainly recommend using at least 2 job boards, aggregators such as indeed.com & social media. Our online recruitment advertising bundle is perfect for this, but of course there are other companies out there who offer advertising & recruitment solutions, and of course you can always go to the job boards / online platforms directly.

I hope this helps, and if you’d like any more advice, or if we can be of assistance with your recruitment advertising, we’d be delighted to hear from you   🚀🚀🚀