Building Better Job Ads

There are several things that come together to give your ad the best potential for success, and meeting all of these criteria is instrumental in your hiring process. There are a few key factors that help you to create a strong and smooth hiring process. The more of these factors you incorporate, the stronger your job ad will be!

You want your job ad to be easily digestible, while still showing off what the candidate will be doing in that position, what your company culture is like, and the benefits they will receive by joining your team. The challenge is keeping it short and sweet while still including all of the necessary information. On average, candidates only spend 15 seconds looking at an individual job ad and most sales personalities don’t expand their search beyond the third page of job search results. You want to cast as wide a net as possible and give the candidate the information they want to see to attract your ideal employee.

Make sure the location matches the zip code of your business location. Using different zip codes or posting the same job in multiple zip codes violates job board guidelines and can result in lower visibility on the boards.

Use common keywords and avoid using industry jargon. This can help make your ad more searchable.

Make sure your job description clearly describes the position and speaks directly to the candidate(s) you are looking for. Take a couple of sentences to describe the position you are offering and show off the unique things about your business.

This is also a great opportunity to go into more depth about your salary range. You can add separate lines explaining what Entry-Level Candidates can expect to make versus Experienced candidates.

Example:

Are you an experienced [Position Title]? Amazing!

Experienced [Position Name] start with a $XX,XXX annual salary, plus commission opportunities on new business and renewals. Top performers at our business make an additional $XX,XXX per year in commission.

No previous [Position Title] experience? No problem!

Entry-Level [Position Title] start with a $XX,XXX annual salary, plus commission opportunities on new business. You can expect to make an additional $XX,XXX during your first year in commission. Plus, we will train you on everything you need to know to be successful.

This way, no matter what experience level a candidate is at when they view your ad, they’ll know with confidence what they can expect to be paid.

Again, you want to keep it informative, but short and sweet. Try to include only 5 bullet points. Explain what the daily duties are of the position. Think about what they’d be doing for 90% of their day!

List these requirements in order of importance. Aim for words/phrases like “plus” rather than “must have.” If your position requires special licensing or certification, but you’re willing to help them get certified, mention that in the requirements section! Try to keep your requirements to 5 bullet points.

You should be creating the ad with your ideal candidate in mind and use it to demonstrate that you know their worth! Creating an ad with a salary range that is competitive for your area along with offering great benefits and remote opportunities can help to attract top candidates to your position.

To have the best chance of attracting the top candidates for the position in your area, you also want to show them that your job is the best job in the area! The most important thing to keep in mind is being competitive in Salary, Benefits, and Remote options. Candidates want to look at your ad and know not only what they’ll be doing for you, but what you’ll be doing for them. You want to make sure you’re showing off all of the great things that you have to offer your current and future employees! Now more than ever it’s a candidate's market, it’s imperative that you detail what they get from you. You want to make sure you’re showing off all of the great things that you have to offer your current and future employees!

Doing some quick market research in your area can help to give you a better idea of what candidates are seeing in their searches and what your competitors are offering that you can meet and exceed. Check out all of the different filters on the job boards and put yourself in the candidate’s shoes. Think about how you would use those filters to get your search down to a manageable number of results and make sure you’re building your ad to give yourself the best opportunity to show up in any filtered search.

Make sure your salary is listed as an annual range. 40% of candidates use a salary filter while searching for jobs and these filters default to annual ranges. This means job ads with hourly, weekly, or monthly salary ranges will not show up in those filtered searches. You’re immediately keeping yourself from 40% of potential candidates! Using an annual salary range can help make your ad more searchable. If the position includes commissions and bonuses, you can include a realistic expectation of their first year total salary. Check out this article that discusses how to come up with a good salary range for your ad.

You should be including as many benefits as possible. Brag about your company here. First, select from the options in the job ad builder and choose as many of those as are applicable. In addition, you can add your own benefits by clicking the “Add Custom Benefit” button at the end.

Benefits don't have to be “traditional” or “conventional” things; you want to show off what your business has to offer candidates both at and outside of work. Things like mentorship, continuing education opportunities, career growth and development opportunities, Licensing/Certification Assistance or reimbursement, flexible hours, work from home flexibility, free parking, or even a cool office location next to downtown or close to big highways are great to include in that section. Are you within walking distance of restaurants or coffee shops that they can go to on their lunch break? Do your employees meet with clients around town or network at local events? Are you close to event centers, parks, school systems, or recreation areas that are within a short commute after work? Does somebody bring donuts to work on Monday morning to start the week off right? What about friendly sales competitions- what do they win? Get as creative as possible!

The benefits is a place where we can brag about ourselves as much as possible so don’t be bashful. Having trouble thinking of some? Ask your current employees one thing they like about their job.

You can select what job visibility you would prefer for your job ad. Jobs marked public will be shared publicly on job boards, making them accessible to a wide range of applicants. Jobs marked private will not be shared to any job boards or your career page. Applicants can only apply via the job ad link.

Remote options are incredibly popular. 85% of candidates are now using remote filters in their searches, meaning you’re excluding yourself from all of those candidates by not offering remote. It doesn’t have to be fully remote either, Hybrid remote is a great option that you can offer and can be completely customized on a case-by-case basis. You can even specify in the benefits section that you offer Work From Home Flexibility after a training or probationary period. Or you can be more vague if you’re more on the fence and just say “Flexible work location based on experience” (although more information is more helpful!)

This can be for an afternoon a week, a day a week, a week a month, 8 days a year, or whatever you choose to offer! Just because you offer a specific work-from-home schedule for one candidate, doesn’t mean it has to be the same schedule for another. A little bit of leeway with remote work is better than none, so offering flexibility can help you determine on a case-by-case basis what will work best for you and the candidate.

Just like you want to know as much about a candidate and their experience as you can before hiring them, they want to learn about you before applying to your job! This is where your online presence comes into play. We even have a customizable Career Page as part of your IdealTraits subscription that allows you to go into more detail about your company, your values, and your achievements! Check out this article to learn more about customizing your IdealTraits Career Page.

You always want to make sure that candidates can find more information about you and your business on multiple platforms. Keeping your company website and social media up to date is a great way to market your business and show off your brand! Make sure you’re sharing your ads to social media as well to boost your audience.

Make sure you’re reading your company reviews and responding to them, even if the review is negative. Thank them for taking the time to leave a review and thank them for their feedback. It is also great practice to try to connect with the reviewer to see how you could have improved their experience. This shows that you are always looking to grow and make sure that your clients have the best experience possible and are willing to accept constructive feedback.

You should be sponsoring your job ad on the job boards to give yourself the best chance to show up at the top of candidates' search results. This can help to increase your job ad visibility and receive more exposure quickly. Sponsoring does not guarantee that you make a hire, but it can help to keep your job relevant in search results and give you more opportunities to assess a larger pool of candidates.

Check out this article to learn more about sponsoring your ad!

For more tips and tricks for your hiring process in your quest to find the best candidate for your role, follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for weekly articles like this with more information!

If you have any additional questions regarding this article please feel free to reach out, we are here to help.

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