How to Write an Effective Job Ad

HELP WANTED

We know how hard recruiters and human resource professionals work when it’s hiring season. You schedule interviews, perform background checks, extend offers, and organize onboarding; but before you can even get started, you’ve got to have an effective job post. It’s an employee market out there, so job postings need to be mini-advertisements for the job, the organization, the benefits, and the location. They’ve got to be attention-grabbing, exciting, and packed with all the right details to interest qualified job-seekers.

TO MARKET

It’s important to note that a good job description is not a good job ad. The description is the rather dry, detailed explanation of the job expectations and responsibilities that will be in an organization’s administrative documents. Copying and pasting this into your job post will ensure your position is open for quite a while. The job ad must be a zippier, stripped down version of the job description with some extra stuff thrown in. Here are some tips from our recruiters on creating a winning job ad that will catch the eye of qualified candidates:

GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

Begin with the job title and a few words about the job itself, for example:

 “Director of Nursing – research hospital, great benefits.”

 “Nursing Home Administrator – Columbus, Ohio”

Maximize the search engine optimization by using the job title at least four times throughout the ad and use different variations (i.e. ‘Director of Nursing,’ ‘DON,’ etc.)

KEEP THEIR INTEREST

Provide a short paragraph (two to three sentences) about the organization, and hit the highlights. Has your facility won any awards? Been in business a long time? Have a particular healthcare focus? Distill the best parts of your organization down to a brief summary.

REEL THEM IN

Time to get into the nitty-gritty, but remember to avoid copying the job description. Bullet points are your friend here. Use as few words as possible to list the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the job. Next is another short bullet point list of the qualifications candidates must have, and finally, a list of the benefits you offer. Note: job posts that list three to five benefits attract more suitable employees than those that don’t. If you’ve got a great location, you can sell the benefits of that here as well. And one last thing: be sure to include a link to your website in your job ad. This allows candidates to learn more about your organization and if the current job posting isn’t the best fit, they may find another opportunity on your website.

QUALITY CONTROL

Your job post must be truthful, thorough, accurate AND succinct, snappy, and interesting. It’s a fine balance to find, but it seems to be somewhere between 700-2,000 characters: job ads this length receive 30% more applicants than those that are shorter or longer.

Once all the elements are in place, and you’ve got a good length, read it over to make sure it flows well. While you may feel silly doing so, we recommend you read it out loud. (This blog was read out loud not so long ago.) This helps identify typos, awkward wordings, and phrasing that are too stiff or stilted. Keep it simple, avoid a lot of ‘business speak,’ and let your enthusiasm show.

Once everything is in place and your job ad is posted, the candidates will start coming to you!