Once you’ve identified the requirements of an open position, created a job ad, and posted it online, you’d be forgiven for thinking the rest is easy. However, it’s not always a given that you’ll be inundated with applicants. Worse still, you’ll fail to attract the right candidates, with your hiring teams then forced to deal with countless applications from mismatched job seekers.
What’s missing in this equation? A great job description. Struggling to secure the right candidates for vacant positions or finding it hard to entice the best talent away from your competitors? The job posts you’re putting out likely need some work. Wondering how to make job ads more attractive? Read on for all the information you’ll ever need.
Why job ads are so important in your recruitment process
When hiring teams are in a hurry, it’s easy to cut corners, leading to barebone job titles and descriptions that nobody’s going to bother with. A compelling job description should engage, inform, and inspire. It’s as much about selling your employer brand and giving potential candidates an idea of your company culture. Of course, there’s plenty of room for the finer details. Alongside role requirements and responsibilities, you’ll also want to sweeten the proposition by underlining any benefits and perks.
Great job ads make all the difference when recruiting. Rather than having to field countless applications from unsuitable job seekers, an engaging job description is far more likely to snare ideal candidates. A better crop of candidates generally means there are more skills and experience on offer. What’s more, you can significantly reduce your time to hire and time to fill metrics. Together, all of these things make for a lower cost per hire.
Benefits of a great job ad
Still unsure as to whether you actually need to improve your job ads? To help convince you, simply take a look at some of the enticing benefits below.
Boost your employer brand
Job ads serve as your first point of contact with candidates, many of whom may have no prior knowledge of your organisation. By investing time and effort into creating standout job descriptions, you’re dramatically improving candidate experience. Even if you have to turn a shortlisted candidate down at the eleventh hour, you can still leave a good first impression.
They’re more shareable on social media
If you’ve exhausted your local talent market, finding the right person for a demanding role can be difficult. Thankfully, the social media era has made it easier than ever for professionals to share potential opportunities with one another. Creative job posts are far more likely to stand out, so it’s sometimes a good idea to approach job descriptions with a social-first mentality.
Highly skilled applicants as standard
You might think that bullet points listing role responsibilities should suffice, but effective hiring needs to uncover what makes a candidate tick and what else they can bring to the table. The better your job descriptions are, the higher the calibre of talent who’ll apply for vacancies.
No more staffing shortages
Is attrition a major problem for your business? It can be alarming to see employees leaving in droves, with no immediate replacements in the pipeline. With dynamic job descriptions, you increase the odds of landing the right talent to take over, ensuring minimal disruption to workflows.
How to create more attractive job ads
If you’re failing to land enough applicants to interview, let alone secure a shortlist of ideal candidates, it’s time to get back to the drawing board. Fortunately, job ads are easily fine-tuned.
1. Make ads mobile-friendly
The majority of smartphone users turn to their devices when scouting for new opportunities. As such, your job ads need to be adapted for mobile device screens. Make sure you’re giving all the important information the priority it deserves so applicants miss out on nothing.
2. Sell your company culture
While job details are obviously useful, applicants generally want more detail from a job ad. Including information about your company culture is a must, helping instil your mission statement and values in a candidate before they’ve even set foot on the premises.
3. Unleash the power of visuals
Long paragraphs and endless bullet lists aren’t particularly inspiring. Chances are, many applicants are going to grow bored and close such an ad before they make it anywhere near the apply button. You can break up the monotony by including imagery or videos in your job ad. Use visuals to provide context for the role you’re advertising, as well as to gently introduce candidates to your company culture.
4. Make sure you’re targeting the right demographics
Do you have a clear idea of the kind of person you want for a role? Create a job description that’s tailored toward that ideal candidate and share posts on the platforms they’re most likely to be using.
5. Don’t overcomplicate it
Sometimes, this can seem unavoidable. Challenging roles with complex remits can be hard to summarise in a paragraph or two. Overbaking a job description can alienate potential candidates, leading to few applications. When in doubt, keep things simple and pick up on the specifics during the interview stage.
5. Close with a call to action
Even if a potential applicant is genuinely interested in a position, there’s no guarantee they’ll apply for it there and then. They might intend to come back to it and apply later, but life gets in the way. Before you know that, they’ve been offered a lucrative position elsewhere, with you missing out on some top-tier talent. To combat this, include attention-grabbing calls to action throughout your job description, encouraging applicants to apply.
Entice the best talent with engaging job ads
A job seeker may sift through hundreds of job adverts before finally deciding to apply for a position, so make sure your ad stands out from the crowd. Need some help creating captivating ads that convert? Teamdash has all the tools you need to create stunning job ad landing pages that will engage candidates and secure more applications than ever.
Thanks to its intuitive design, you don’t need to be a designer or developer to get to work with Teamdash’s job ad landing page builder. Experiment with different fonts, layouts, visuals, and more. You can even create your own templates so you have a point of reference for future rounds of recruitment. What’s more, every landing page you design is mobile-friendly, ensuring smartphone users aren’t left out.
All of this isn’t even counting Teamdash’s other features. A powerful applicant tracking system loaded with useful functions to aid recruitment, Teamdash makes finding the ideal candidate simple. Automate admin tasks, track progress in real-time, and more.
Is it time to give your job ads an overhaul? Why not book a Teamdash demo today?
