04 Aug 2023
Whether you are advertising your vacancy online, or in the press, if you want a positive response to your advert (and no time wasting – on both sides), then there are some things you really should include, especially if there is no supporting documentation such as a detailed Job Description or Person Specification:
Job Title: Yes it goes without saying, but make sure it’s one people can understand! (We’ve seen some very confusing ones in the last few months!) This should reflect what the actual job entails, and maybe what people are most likely to search for to find the job type.
Job Description: Now we don’t mean two pages of detail, but at least a couple of bullet points describing the main duties / responsibilities will help potential applicants to understand what is required.
Skills – don’t go overboard with these but keep to the skills you know your candidates need to have. Too many is off-putting, and too few can lead to an influx of potentially unsuitable candidates. It is a balancing act to get this right.
Experience needed – If you need your candidates to have very specific experience, then please say so, ensuring you cover what it is you are looking for. This could include having done the same job before, used the same equipment, or worked within a specific sector. Leaving this out again leads to wasted time for both you and your applicants.
Mobility: If your staff need to travel (and even drive) as part of their duties, then ensure you cover this in your ad. Many candidates will have specific responsibilities meaning they could need to stay near home all the time, or have to be home at certain times for their family. You don’t want to get to the job offer stage, to then find it’s not going to work out.
Location – Be clear about where the job is based. Usually giving the name of a City might be enough for some, but just saying ‘London’ or ‘Greater Manchester’ will leave people wondering whether the job is in a reachable location, even if they live there. Whether the job can be done remotely or even on a hybrid basis is now a relevant consideration.
Salary - or how it will be decided – It’s probably the first thing people look for after they’ve seen the job title, so make sure you at least mention it. It will help candidates decide if it’s the right rate for them. If pay isn’t to be disclosed, then at least explain that it’s subject to negotiation, or dependent on experience. ‘Competitive’ is a bit too subjective a word to use here.
Other benefits: Everyone will have different needs and commitments, and what’s important to one candidate might not be so important to another. There’s not much point in disclosing everything, especially if you’d have to pay for an even more expensive press advert, but make sure you include the best items, such as holidays / reward schemes etc.
