Julia Weeks
When it comes to job advertisements, strategies have changed over the years. At one time, companies could simply post an advertisement, paying no attention to employer brand or benefits of working for their company, and receive many qualified applicants.
Today, top talent will not waste time applying to a posting that does not look its “Sunday Best” as ERE describes. This is why it is of the utmost importance that your company has gone the extra mile when it comes to job advertisements.
1. Why work for your company?
One of the most important things to consider when creating your job ad is the benefit of working for your company.
Why would someone want to work at your company?
Sometimes, it can be easy to lose site of the benefits at your company. Do yourself a favor and ask your employees why they work at your company. Gather their opinions in a list, and decide which ones would be attractive in your job advertisement.
Remember, your job ad is not only a way for you to announce that you are hiring, but it is also a way to promote your company and it’s cultural environment. Being able to provide to top talent all of the reasons why your company is a great place to work will give you a better chance at that top talent actually applying to your advertisement.
2. Future opportunity
When you ask your employees why they enjoy working at your company, one thing you should listen for in their answers is the opportunity for growth in your business. If for some reason, you have not heard this mentioned, you need to stop and think about this very seriously.
Today’s top talent is looking for more than just a job or just to pay the bills. Top talent is looking for an actual career that will offer growth and challenge. The opportunity to grow within a company and expand their knowledge and skills is something very valuable to top talent today.
If your company does not offer growth opportunities within, take some time to figure out how you can change this. When your company provides growth opportunities to its employees, you will see better retention, happier employees, and top talent itching to join your team.
3. Get creative
Forget about the job ads from the past. Gone are the days of the standard description with the itemized list at the top containing job title, compensation, benefits, work hours, etc.
When you are posting a job ad for your business, your key goal is attract the attention of top talent. In today’s society, attention grabbers are colorful, fun, and energetic.
Add some color or photos to your job ad. Try changing the font from Times New Roman to a more loose and flowing font such as HVD Comic Serif. You would be surprised what a huge difference changing the font can do to your job ad.
Another great way to get creative with your job ad is to include a video advertisement. Creating and sharing a video of your business with yourself and your employees is a huge selling point in job advertisements today. ERE explains that 51 percent of participants in a survey by ATS researcher Software Advice were positively influenced by video in job ads.
Include video of your employees discussing why they enjoy working for your company, as well as a video of yourself or other executives discussing company culture, vision, and mission statement. Doing so will greatly enhance your ability to develop a connection with top talent, encouraging them to apply to your advertisement.
In addition, candidates will be impressed if you take it one step further and offer video interview opportunities such as one-way video interviews and live video interviews. Modernizing not only your job ad, but also interviewing methods demonstrates to top talent that your business is technically savvy and open to new methods of doing business. This is very attractive to top talent.
What are some ways that you have made your job advertisements more attractive to today’s top talent? Please share your tips below.
Image: Artisticco LLC/BigStock.com
Spark Hire
Josh Tolan
