Recruitment ads are as boring as Bat$#@%

Have you scoured our job boards lately? I probably wouldn’t blame you if you have no interest, you’d be sharing the same view as jobseekers.

Why might I say this…?

Well they are as boring as Bat$%#%. This topic has been on my mind for a while, and when I saw a tweet on twitter from Katie McNab (Pepsi Co Recruitment Manager) I decided it was time to vent.

Katie showed an example of two ads that she believed were dismal and she was right, well I was mortified when they both looked like 95% of Ads on Australian Job boards.

If you want to attract talent, the right people, bright people, start pitching to them the way they deserved to be pitched at. Ads are your way of standing out from the crowd. And no one seems to be standing out; we all seem to be standing together and it is quite ugly.

Now when I say stand out I don’t mean start going crazy with words such as, Cowabunga Dude, This is the Bomb or best organization ever. I mean be clear and concise and for God’s sake don’t use the word “Our Client”

Remember, it’s people we’re conversing with, not R O B O T S

The ideal ad in my eyes is one that does the following

Speaks to you like a REAL person, humor goes a long way
Clearly defies salary and location
Explains responsibilities and requirements
Gives insight in to the company and what it does
And more importantly why a candidate would want to work there

Internal recruiters also take note, it’s your company you are representing, and your tone in ads gives a brilliant indication of the persona and demeanor within, chances are if it sounds boring it probably is, and vice versa.

So before you write an ad next, think to yourself would I jump at this opportunity, is it interesting and does my tone perceive the companies tone?

And honestly if you are not confident at writing ads or you are not the creative type, hire a copywriter get in done properly, remember its you and your clients reputation your putting on the line.

Happy Ad Writing

Nathan Reese

Comment by Alasdair Murray on May 3, 2011 at 1:42pm: Nathan I feel your pain. I am a copywriter and former advertising agency account executive who has been banging on about the quality, or lack of it, of recruitment advertisements on the web for ages. And yet so many people take no notice and continue to churn out cut and pasted job descriptions or semi-literate pieces full of grammatical errors and typos? Why? I don't know. it is oje of liofe;s great mysteries.No doubt these same people marvel when they see a truly clever piece of advertising or marketing in another arena like cars or holidays or whatever, but many seem unable to grasp the simple notion that every ad makes a statement about you and your organisation. Mess it up and all but the least placeable candidates will plague you.Get it right and it position your company in a whole different light. I;vecome to the conclusion that some recruiters just aren't willing to invest in decent advertising/marketing and instead put their futures to chance by shoving out any old message and hoping a few people that they can place will bite. It's such a wasted marketing opportunity.

Comment by Hope on May 3, 2011 at 2:13pm: I would challenge people interested in this article to also avoid using text to demonstrate these attributes to your ideal candidate. Use of video in particular does a much more effective job in demonstrating to candidates why they should care and consider investing in further exploring an organization and opportunity.

Comment by Nathan Reese on May 3, 2011 at 6:46pm: Hope, Video certainly has its place and will become a lot bigger in time to come, we are in the process of playing with it currently.

Alasdair, Thanks for feeling my pain :), whilst I am no copywriter I have certainly learnt to appreciate your art over the last 6 months or so and it has been this very interest that created my frustration towards ads.

You have clients paying 1000s of dollars and yet they refuse to use a professional. I cant get my head around it.

Comment by Chris Russell on May 5, 2011 at 8:35am: If you have an iphone/ipod touch or an ipad2 use this tool to create a unique, engaging job description.