Creating the perfect online job advert
By Amy @BubbleJobs
Here at Bubble it’s fair to say we’ve seen our fair share of online job adverts. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the downright ugly so we have a pretty good idea of what makes a stand-out ad and what makes an ad that isn’t worthy of a single click-through.
Creating a job advert that works is actually a fine art. You need to get the balance between personality and professionalism spot-on – overdo either and there’s a good chance you’ll alienate potential candidates.
To create a job ad that’s attractive to your target audience you need to put yourself in their shoes. If you were a web developer, social media expert or content pro what would make you click on a job advert and apply? Here are a few things you need to consider.
Salary: Yep, we’ve started with the biggy! Salary is often one of the most controversial issues when it comes to recruitment. Put a salary on the job advert that’s too low and you won’t get any applications but put a salary on that’s too high and you seriously run the risk of peeing off existing members of your staff. So just don’t put a salary on the ad right? Hmm this can be a problem too. Simply writing “highly competitive salary” might seem like a good idea but for people who work in a different area, it might not make any sense to them. The solution? Work out a salary, align it with existing employees and stick it on the ad.
Job Title: Now job title might not seem like a big deal but it can be a deal breaker to potential candidates. People want to feel like they’re moving up in the world so putting the word ‘junior’ in a title could be really off-putting to older candidates who might be ideal for the role. When deciding on a job title it’s important to bear the salary in mind – having the word ‘senior’ in a job title which has quite a small salary doesn’t make sense – a senior role demands a fairly substantial salary in 99% of situations. You need to balance the job title with the salary expectations to attract the right kind of candidate.
Personality: Ah this is a tricky one. Like I said earlier it’s all about balancing personality with professionalism. If you’re a fun company to work for, you need to show it in your job ad. Writing a job ad which reflects the personality and ethos of your company is more likely to attract like-minded candidates than a stuffy job ad which sounds really corporate and uptight. On the other hand, if you’re a serious, corporate company and you write a quirky, fun job ad, you run the risk of attracting the wrong kind of candidate ie. someone who wouldn’t fit in with your company.
So there you have it; a few simple things to consider next time you decide to knock up a job advert!
About the Author
Amy Edwards Amy Edwards is the SEO Manager for Bubble Jobs. With a strong background in online content and copywriting, Amy is responsible all the on-site and off-site SEO of Bubble Jobs and the Bubble Jobs blog. You can follow her on Twitter here or add her to your circles on Google+ here.
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