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In today’s competitive job market, employers are rushing to fill open positions with qualified candidates.
Over 3 million employers use ZipRecruiter, one of the largest and best employer job sites, to find these candidates. But posting your open position is not the same as simply casting a fishing line. To attract good candidates, you need to write a clear and detailed job advertisement.
We’ve boiled down the process of writing a job advert into nine simple steps, from defining job duties to selling your employer brand, so you can attract the best talent to your company.
9 steps to create a job advert
Like any worthwhile business endeavor, writing an effective job posting requires some upfront work. While you will eventually have to learn how to hire employees, the first step is to create a job posting that attracts the right candidates.
Writing a great job posting is, ideally, a collaborative process between talent acquisition staff, compensation and benefits managers, and the hiring manager for the position.
We’ve partnered with ZipRecruiter to give you an insider guide to writing the best job ad. If you are looking for more information on the topic, ZipRecruiter also offers a wide range of articles.
Step 1: Define the position you want to fill
Job candidates want to know right away what they’re getting into. Providing a short, clear description of the position you want to fill (a couple of sentences is ideal) at the beginning of the job listing allows candidates to immediately see whether they might be a good fit for your open position. Many won’t go beyond the title of your ad, so make sure the title is transparent and relevant.
Avoid using unnecessary words in the opening sentences of your ad. Don’t say “skilled marketing professional,” for example, when you could say “marketing manager” and still get your main point across.
Step 2: Keep the job posting short and easy to read
A LinkedIn study found that candidates will spend an average of just 14 seconds reading a job posting. The professional networking site also learned that the shortest job postings – under 300 words – inspire the most responses.
Here are three tips for writing an effective job ad:
- Keep sentences as short as possible – This helps job seekers to skim.
- Get to the verb quickly – Focus on the action verb and reduce the distance between subject and verb.
- Use bullet points – List tasks, requirements and qualifications so searchers can scan them.
Step 3: Use the correct job title
The right job title for your position isn’t necessarily the one that will appear on your new hire’s business card.
Aim for a job title that communicates the required skill level, the basic function of the job and, if possible, one of your organization’s strategic goals. For example, the difference between a “Product Development Manager” and a “Product Innovation Director” is that the latter will be tasked with coming up with new product ideas or product executions.
Step 4: Sell your company
Many “critical care nurse” positions include the same job responsibilities. The same goes for “sales manager,” “software engineer,” and jobs in every industry. But candidates don’t just care about what they will do, but also about the company they will work for.
So it makes sense to include text in your job posting that highlights the uniqueness of your job, such as the company’s mission, recognition received, standing and reputation in your industry, and other details that set it apart from the competition.
If you can demonstrate the extraordinary growth of your company, do so. This information suggests that employees will have opportunities to advance their careers. If you’ve made a list of the best places to work, mention it. Details like “woman-owned company” or “certified green company” can help you connect with candidates’ values. According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), company culture is the number one factor candidates consider when choosing an employer. In fact, it is more important than salary.
Step 5: Include salary and benefits information
Job candidates may not explicitly mention it in their cover letters, but earning a good salary is a goal for virtually every employee. Higher salaries correlate with greater job satisfaction, in part because they make employees feel valued by their employers.
But even if you don’t offer the highest salaries for your position, providing candidates with a salary range and information about key benefits in your job posting works in your favor. Candidates scanning job ads are specifically looking for salary information. Many will ignore anything that talks about company culture and job responsibilities to find it and, unfortunately, will abandon your job ad if you don’t provide it.
Step 6: Explain the responsibilities of the position
The work you post may be assigned many tasks. Your job when describing job responsibilities is to prioritize the most important ones. Use bullet points so job seekers can scan them quickly.
Keep in mind that if your job title is clear, it may automatically convey certain responsibilities to candidates with relevant work experience or those already on a career path to the position you’re advertising. So you may want to keep the list of assumed responsibilities short and focus on the unique requirements of the role.
Step 7: List the required skills and qualifications
Don’t create an exhaustive list: only mention the essential ones. Do you need a candidate who speaks a foreign language fluently? Is an MBA or other degree or certification required?
Be careful not to repeat or rephrase what you have already covered in the Responsibilities section. Both sections will benefit from using bullet points rather than writing in paragraphs. This way, you’ll keep your ad short and scannable.
Step 8: Provide additional information about the hiring process
The more transparent you are about your hiring process, the more likely candidates are to trust you from the start. Use the conclusion to offer details about how the hiring process will proceed after candidates apply.
Your company may receive hundreds of inquiries from qualified candidates for your open job position, but your talent acquisition team can easily automate the process of responding to even those thumbs-down candidates. It’s the polite thing to do. And candidates would rather hear something from you than nothing.
Step 9: Choose a job site and share the job
Choosing the right job board for your posting is critical to a smooth and quick hiring. It doesn’t matter if you’re a growing small business or a large corporation looking for competitive advantages, look for employer job posting sites that have a broad reach and actively recruit qualified candidates for you.
It may be tempting to post your ad on a site that specializes in your industry – and that can’t hurt if you post your position in multiple places – but candidates in every industry tend to turn to the major job search sites first.
When evaluating job sites, think about how easy it is for the service to set geographic parameters for a job search. More and more candidates are looking for remote work, so make sure your site offers an easy way to search for remote employees. Find out how much time and effort it takes for a candidate to apply for a job. The best sites make it easy to complete the application process and upload cover letters and other supporting documents.
In addition to posting your open position on one or more job boards, use your social media pages to promote your listing and entice people to share it in their networks. Candidates who follow your company on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), for example, have already expressed interest in your company. They may be waiting for an opportunity to join your team.
Summary of Money’s guide on how to write a job advert
- Create a short, direct and scannable post.
- Think carefully when choosing a professional title for your post.
- Distinguish your position by talking about your company culture.
- Focus on the most important responsibilities, skills and qualifications, not just the obvious ones.
- Provide a salary range, benefits information, and any unique perks that come with the job. If you do this, more candidates will take the time to read the entire list.
- Include information about the recruiting process so candidates know what to expect.
- Choose job boards that make applying for a position easy and efficient, and actively recruit the most qualified candidates for you. ZipRecruiter submits jobs to over 100 job boards with one click.
- Highlight your open position on your social media pages and make your post easily shareable across messaging platforms and mediums.