It's a job advert, not a contract!

Yes, I am very aware I am writing this as someone working in a sector probably one of the worst for treating job adverts more like a legal contract.  That doesn't mean I'm not trying to do my bit to make change happen.

I cringe every time I see an advert with terms like “the company will”, “the engineer will” and “the manager will” in them, that read more like a list of demands than a reason why someone should be interested in applying. 

We owe it to ourselves as employers, and to our prospective future employees, to make our adverts appealing and interesting, to make viewers want to, maybe even need to, apply. 

Part of the art of being a recruiter is being able to turn a job description or role profile into an appealing job advert, and not treating them like the same thing. That doesn't mean lying or mis-reading, it simply means using your skills and experience to present the information in a way that makes the job interesting to the reader, and invites them to proceed further.

"It's not rocket science - unless of course it is, and then make it really clear it is."        

Where to start

I've already said that a job advert is not a job description or role profile, but it should be your starting point for content. The below image shows the relationship between job description and advert, and is a good reminder when thinking about converting one to the other

Imagine this was a new soft drink. You wouldn't pay for a TV commercial then just put up a blank screen with a list of ingredients would you? So why would you do that for a job advert for an important role at your company?

Things to think about

Job title - is the job title relevant to external applicants. If the answer is no, ditch it! Nobody is going to apply if they have no idea what the job is. As with any marketing, you have a very limited time to catch someones attention. The title and the first sentence are the first thing they see, and if these aren't of interest they are a lot les likely to click through for more details

Summary - This is it, your pitch, maybe your only chance to get their attention, what are you going to do? Waste it on copy-paste drivel and phrases everyone uses, or a generic company statement? Or come up with a few lines that sum up the role, the organisation and WHY someone should apply. This is your "career in a nutshell" opportunity

Whats the mission - Ok, you have them hooked, they've come through to your main advert. Now what? sell the mission and the strategy, tell them why this role is important, so they know what they will be contributing to and know they will be valued as a prospective future employee.

What's their role - This is where the role profile or job description comes in. But it shouldn't be a copy and paste. You need to bring the profile to life, take that 3rd person contract language and put it in the 1st person, make this personal. "the engineer will" becomes "as part of our engineering team, you will", "there is an expectation that you will" becomes "your experience will make you an important contributor to". You're already talking about them as if they are part of your team and company, welcoming them in.

And what are you offering in return - So you have expectations, so do your potential future employees. What are you giving them back for the skills and experience and hard work they are bringing to the table. Do you have career progression pathways, protected learning time or individual learning budgets, what are the benefits? This is your opportunity to really sell what you are giving back.

And finally, what do they need - You've set out what the successful candidate will do, and what you will do for them. now you need to tell them what they will need to be successful in this role. This is where it all gets a bit more formal, and you will need to talk about what you need them to have in terms of skills, experience or qualifications. But keep it relevant, if this is an entry level role then you shouldn't be using "experienced" and "highly skilled" through the essentials. Likewise if this is a senior level role "experience with Microsoft Office" is a little ridiculous as an essential skill, we can probably safely assume they know how word and Excel work.

My final thoughts. Keep it short (but not too short), keep it simple, sell the journey you are on and they will be part of, and be honest and clear about what you need.