Guest PostMarketing and recruiting might seem like two different worlds. But when it comes to writing job ads that attract outstanding recruits, the key to success is killer ad copy.
If you’re trying to get the best possible candidates to apply to your job posting, you’d better make them believe it’s worth their time and effort to write an application for you. And to convince them your company is worth their time, you have to sell them on it.
Copywriters are used by some of the biggest and best companies to attract top talent to their positions. Take a look at how much Facebook (now Meta) and Google invest into their recruitment copy.
However, copywriters aren’t cheap, so most small to medium-sized businesses write their job ad copy in house.
Luckily, you don’t need to be a master wordsmith to improve the effectiveness of your ad copy.
Here are 3 actionable copywriting tips you can use when writing your next job ad.
1. Tell Them What’s In It For Them
You want to draw your audience in right away and give them a reason to keep reading. The best way to do this with a job ad is to immediately paint a picture that tells people why they’ll love working for you.
Tell your potential future employees the benefits you offer that make you stand out from your competition.
Do you offer flexible working hours or work-from-home? Are your health and retirement benefits world-class? Do you fund an annual trip to Disney Land for your team?
Whatever it is that makes you better to work for than other employers, tell people that right away. They’re bound to get excited and continue reading about the job.
2. Show Them Why This Job Will Satisfy Them
Don’t just sell your potential applicants on the perks of the job, but tell them why they’ll feel satisfied at the end of each workday, too. The best recruits are going to be on the lookout for jobs that can give them professional fulfillment.
The best of the best isn’t going to be satisfied with just a good salary if they’re not getting anything else out of the job. The most qualified person for the job will likely have put in years of training and effort into becoming great at what they do.
Tell your ideal candidate that you’re looking specifically for them by listing out the skills and qualifications they have, and let them know they will use those skills daily.
This is a way of showing top candidates that you respect the work they have put into becoming qualified for this job. It also lets them know that they will get the chance to use their hard-earned talent every day.
However, you’ll want to note that you have flexibility with these qualifications. It might be rare that someone has every single skill you list, so you should make it clear that you’ll be happy to consider well-qualified candidates who show their value in different ways.
3. Keep Your Words Simple And Paragraphs Short
While it may be true that the talent you’re addressing is likely to be highly educated and experienced in your industry, that doesn’t mean you should fill your copy with big words and industry-specific jargon.
Your perfect candidate is probably busy and doesn’t want to spend much time digesting your job posting. Use shorter words that can be absorbed quickly to increase the likelihood of potential recruits reading and engaging with your entire message. The general rule is to aim for an eighth-grade reading level to keep your ad easy to read quickly.
Similarly, using short paragraphs will boost the chance of keeping your reader engaged.
People’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. And that applies to the top talent you’re trying to target, too. Be as direct as possible in your job ad, and divvy up your paragraphs so they have varying lengths with a max of three sentences each.
Potential recruits are flooded with hundreds of postings on job boards every day, and attracting highly qualified candidates is becoming increasingly challenging as attention spans get shorter.
To get their attention, you have to stand out in your job ad, and you have to do it quickly. Try the 3 ad copy tips discussed here when you write your next job posting and see how many more top-quality candidates you can attract.
About the Author
Jade Bloom, the marketing director for The Content Panel, is an avid bibliophile who spends much of her time in bookstores, eagerly searching for the next hidden gem to consume.
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