Some Basic Rules Of Recruitment Advertising
Posted by Mitch on 7th September 2009
1. The advert should be more about the reader and less about the employer
Too many ads say too much about a company and its own opinion of itself and not enough about why the reader should care. Think about what job-seekers care about and focus on what is important to them.
2. Many of the best recruitment advertising concepts have accompanying visuals
People scan before they read. If you don’t attract their interest when they’re scanning, you probably won’t attract their interest at all. Good use of white space and bullet points (if it’s on the web) helps achieve this.
3. The second-best word in a recruitment advert is ‘you’
The best word is the reader’s name. Sadly, this is not possible in recruitment advertising
4. Good adverts attract, intrigue and persuade
Attract with the visual or the design, intrigue with the headline or the concept, and persuade with the copy. If the advert does not attract, it’s ignored. If the advert does not intrigue, it’s glanced at, then ignored. If the advert doesn’t persuade, it is noticed, read, then ignored.
5. The ad copy should be energetic, intelligent, and honest
You can’t bore someone into sending you their CV, but you can cheat someone into a sending you their CV by lying to them. But that is the starting point of high staff-turnover and/or lots of rejected job-offers.
6. It takes about 3 minutes to check whether or not an applicant can do the job
So put a phone number in the ad. Don’t be lazy. Let the good people find out more.
7. Be specific
If the advert isn’t specific about the responsibilities, the requirements or the benefits, the better candidates won’t respond.
8. Include the salary
See above.