Want Better Candidates? Start with Better Recruiting Ads (part 1)

Do your recruiting ads truly stand out?

Let’s be honest. Writing job posting after job posting, month after months can get a little, well, DULL. But if you’re just “phoning it in,” you can’t expect to recruit the best candidates.

Skeptical? Then try this: go to a major job board and search for a job you’re trying to fill. Don’t look specifically for the assignment or position you’re filling for your client; just look at how many other companies are recruiting candidates exactly like the ones you need.

Discouraging, isn’t it? With all the competition for attention your recruiting ads face, copying-and-pasting humdrum job descriptions onto a couple of job boards and then hoping for the best won’t cut it.

Ready to get serious about writing job postings that really stand out?

This multi-part post series explains how.

Part 1: Get Better Quality Input from Clients

Who will be supervising the temporary employee or new hire? Who will be working with this individual, day after day? These people know best the type of candidate who will thrive in the role. They know the culture, the challenges and the biggest opportunities associated with the position.

They have important insights to offer…but they may not understand the stakes.

Go directly to end-users, whenever possible, and “connect the dots” for them. Explain exactly why (and how) a well-crafted job description serves as a marketing tool to attract the best candidates. When supervisors and hiring managers understand that investing time now with high quality information will pay off later in a candidate who:

  • performs above expectations;
  • is an excellent cultural fit;
  • has long-term goals that align with your organization’s (relevant for direct-hire roles);

…they’ll have a vested interest in sharing details to help you build a stand-out recruiting ad.

So, tell your clients what you need!

Otherwise, you’re likely to get a bulleted list of job duties – and not much else. Make gathering high-quality information easier by specifically asking for:

  • The basics: things like position title, department, pay, benefits (if applicable), work hours, location, type of employment, and to whom the individual will report.
  • A brief summary of the job’s overall purpose within the organization and an overview of key responsibilities.
  • A list of essential job functions. Encourage managers and supervisors to use descriptive language and concise terminology; details like these can be real difference-makers in recruiting ads.
  • Required, as well as preferred, skills and qualifications. Have your client distinguish between skills, certifications, licensing, proficiencies and experience that are absolutely essential – and ones which would be nice to have.
  • Required, as well as preferred, soft skills. In addition to helping you make an accurate culture match, this information will help make your job posting more compelling.
  • Physical and mental demands of the work environment.
  • How success in the role will be measured (we’ll talk more about how to use this information in a future post).
  • Key challenges to be met and goals to be obtained.
  • Unique selling points about the job, the company, the culture, or other perks/benefits.

Once you gather all of this great information, how can you use it to write an amazing job posting? Find out in our next post in our Better Recruiting Ad series.

Another way to recruit the best candidates?

Post your jobs on JobFuel, the only job site for staffing firms like yours. Using the latest digital marketing best-practices, we optimize your jobs for search engines – and promote your jobs on social media. Great results. No commitment! Find more information and pricing plans here.

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