The business of finding new employees has become very competitive—in many sectors of the economy it is a job-seekers market and in order to land the best talent you have to first get their attention. Your recruitment ad may be the first impression a candidate has of your company and you know what they say about first impressions. Don’t blow your opportunity to blow-away the competition by placing lack-luster ads that say nothing about your organization and does nothing to help candidates determine their likelihood of success on the job.
Think of your recruitment ads as an extension of your marketing efforts. You want to get qualified applicants (buyers) in the door in order to make an excellent hiring decision (the sale).
How do you increase your ad effectiveness for Job Seekers and find the most qualified candidates? You write compelling recruitment ads.
Sell Yourself
This is where you appeal to the job seekers and answer the first question they ask themselves, “Why do I want to work there?” Use your ad to address any doubts a job seeker might have about your company. If you are a start-up promote your culture, your values, or the uniqueness of your product or service. You might not be able to compete with more established firms in your industry on job security or benefits so don’t try. Embrace your difference and appeal to candidates who will appreciate what you do have to offer. Design your ad to “sell” the candidate on your company so they contact you instead of the other companies whose ads surround yours.
Discourage the Unqualified
Now that you have the candidates’ attention, you need to screen out the candidates you don’t want. You don’t want to go through hundreds of resumes looking for the gems; you want mostly gems to apply. The best way to do this is to use qualifiers: words that give potential applicants reason to pause and consider their suitability for the job. Examples of qualifiers include:
- Minimum of ...
- ... Mandatory
- Must have ...
- Some ... required
- All candidates being considered will be tested
- We conduct thorough background checks
Essentials Please
Here again the goal is to eliminate as many unqualified applicants as possible. When you read through job ads most of them sound the same: good communication skills required, looking for strong team players, must be used to a fast paced environment, etc… While these are all desirable traits what you need to know right off the bat is whether the person can actually do the job. If they need to type 100 words per minute say so—even the most communicative, stress-tolerant, team player will not be successful in the position if he or she only types 45 words per minute. There are other, more effective, ways to determine if the person is the right fit for the job. What you want is to be able to find that person among only those applicants who have the ability to the job well.
Make it Personal
An effective ad helps a qualified candidate see him or herself in the position. Make the tone of your ad conversational and talk directly to the reader using pronouns like “you” and “we.” Rather than say, “the candidate will…” say, “you will….” Use action oriented words that motivate qualified candidates to take the next step and apply. Finally, talk to the audience in their own language using standard abbreviations and common jargon where appropriate.
Hook ‘em with a Headline
Most ads start with the job title: Boring! To make your ad stand out you need to grab the reader’s attention immediately. Be creative and marketing savvy – use words that have high appeal like “you”, “new”, and “exciting.” Some great examples I’ve seen used are:
- Are YOU our next ...
- We're working overtime to get you here part-time
- You think we're a great place to shop ... now think about us as a great place to work
Hook them in, sell them on your company, and then let them decide if they are qualified.
Effective recruitment ads are so much more than a grocery list of “nice to have qualifications.” They are targeted, interesting, personalized, and designed to encourage candidate self-selection. Whether on an Internet job board, on a recruiting website, in an industry publication, or in the local newspaper you are competing with other employers for those top candidates. If you use your recruitment process as a method to communicate your company’s uniqueness you will get more uniquely qualified candidates in return and you will come out the winner in the end. | 
