When hiring, a job advert is your best opportunity to impress talented individuals and attract them to your roles. If you don’t have a strong job advert, the ideal candidates could be passing you by. 

After all, with over half (51.7%) of job hunters claiming that they wouldn’t apply for a job that missed key aspects out of the job description, it’s important that you get it right. 

Luckily, we’re here to help. Recruiting can be a costly process, from posting a job advert to conducting a resume search. Spending the time to perfect your first job advert will save you money overall. If you get it wrong, you’ll only attract the wrong hire, wasting your time and their time.  

Take a look at our guide for advice on how to structure your advert and what content to include. We’ll also cover common mistakes which you should avoid!  

How To Structure Your Job Advert  

When structuring your job advert, it’s best to keep it simple. Candidates are put off by adverts which are quick to use fancy tricks and techniques. It appears unprofessional. 

Especially when candidates are scanning hundreds of job adverts, it’s important to make the information clear and relevant. Following a basic format will ensure you have a clear layout.  

Here’s a simple checklist of everything that should be included when writing your job advert, which will be explained in more detail below: 

• Job title 
• Salary 
• Location 
• Introduction to your business 
• Role and responsibilities  
• Key requirements (qualifications and skills)  

What To Include In Each Section 

As promised, we’ll now include a breakdown of what each section of your job advert should include.  

1. Job title 

With one in four (43.8%) of job seekers claiming that this was one of the most significant aspects that they look for, these few words could make or break your job advert. Arguably, it’s the first detail that the eye is drawn to.  

Avoid coming up with convoluted job titles in an effort to stand out. This can actually damage your chances. Be sure to use recognizable, clear words which will resonate with candidates. 

Furthermore, job hunters will use key words to search for roles online. If your job title doesn’t include these, then it will be impossible for them to find your role. Even if it is a really great opportunity! 

You can also include the seniority of the role, whether this is senior, junior or an assistant. This will avoid confusion further down the line.  

2. Salary 

While it’s not compulsory to include the salary in the job description, it’s good practice. The salary, or salary bracket, is normally found next to the job title, alongside the location. Be sure that your offering is competitive if you really want to attract the best candidates.  

Moreover, without this information, you risk misleading people. You’ll have candidates applying from all over the country, who actually don’t want to relocate. Also, you could lose people further down the line because the salary isn’t what they expected. Be honest from the start!  

3. Introduction 

After salary, you need to introduce your business and the role that you’re advertising for. This doesn’t have to be overly long, as you’ll go into more detail later on. It should simply include the job title, industry and the key skills and experience that would be beneficial.  

This is also a good time to show off your company to the candidate. Make them want to come and work for you. Why should they choose you instead of another company?  

4. Responsibilities  

After you’ve introduced the position, you should outline what the role consists of and a few of the main responsibilities. You can either break these up into short paragraphs or bullet points, for ease of use. You also don’t want to overwhelm the candidate!  

This section is a good opportunity to give the candidate goals and help them understand their day to day duties within the business. Transparency is key here. Nobody wants to become bored of their daily tasks and end up hating their job.  

5. Requirements 

So now that you’ve given an overview of the position, you need to state the requirements you expect of the candidates. This means qualifications, personality traits, soft skills and experience.  

Say whether your candidate needs specific qualifications, such as certificates or a degree. Decide if these qualifications are mandatory, or simply recommended for the role.  

Next, you can begin to discuss personality traits and soft skills you’d like the candidate to have. For example, candidates should be adaptable, with strong leadership skills and a proven interest in the industry.  

6. Your company 

Don’t forget to sell your company to the candidate. If you have any fantastic benefits or perks that you offer employees, state these clearly. These extras can make the world of difference to candidates, so don’t be shy about including these in your job advert.  

What To Avoid 

As we’ve already mentioned, candidates can be put off by quirky job titles or unclear job descriptions. However, there are various other minefields to watch out for. Here’s the top four mistakes to avoid: 

1. Spelling and grammar errors 

What might have been a great advert can instantly be ruined by a few spelling and grammar mistakes. It looks unprofessional and lazy, which is a bad reflection upon your company. Be sure to proof read several times and ask someone else to check too.  

2. Missing out key information 

Follow our guide above and hopefully you won’t miss out any key information. Candidates know what they want from a job and the relevant information needs to be in front of them. If you neglect to include crucial criteria, such as salary, you may end up not getting any applicants at all! 

3. Too many technical terms 

Scattering jargon across a job advert won’t impress candidates. Instead, it’s frustrating and can delay the process. Forget the buzzwords and acronyms and stick to using clear keywords.  

4. Having a cluttered structure 

Candidates don’t want to have to hunt for information in the job advert. The information that they need should be instantly visible and easy to pick out. Long chunks of text and scattered pieces of information are detrimental to a concise layout.   

To Summarise  

If it wasn’t clear already, it’s worth taking the time to perfect your job advert from the start. You’ll save valuable time and resources, as well as attracting a higher quality of candidates.  

To boost your application rates, simply follow our easy guide. Keep your job advert clear and concise and candidates can quickly decide if they’re a good fit for the role. You’ll be surprised at how quickly vacancies fill up when you post effective job adverts!  

Got a vacancy to fill? Advertise your jobs with Resume-Library today and reach millions of candidates!