How to create an impressive Job Ad - 5 ideas

When was the last time you noticed a really impressive job ad? I mean a really memorable one? Most of the job ads look just ordinary, dull and with no eye-catching WOW factor. In order to get noticed instantly a company needs to apply different strategies.

Usually an ad should be divided into a minimum of 4 sections: 1) Relevant information about the company, 2) Job responsibilities, 3) Required qualifications and skills 4) Steps how to apply. But there have been also companies who keep it very simple and short. In Steve Jobs’ words “Simplicity is the new sophistication”, so why not also applying this credo in a job ad?

Now if you want to stand out from the crowd and be perceived as a creative thinking company these are the points that you should consider:

1) Choose a great title!

Don’t underestimate the importance of choosing the right title! It can have an impact on the number of job applications and the quality of candidates you might hear from. You will have a higher response from candidates if your job ad title is also SEO friendly. If the headline of a job sounds original and unusual you get peoples’ attention and they will read the rest of the ad as well.

2) The VISUAL component.

Using a picture or an infographic in your job ad would instantly grab the attention of a jobseeker. Let’s assume you are looking for a person who needs to be a good team player or team leader. Every jobseeker would appreciate it if they could already see a picture of their future team colleagues. This would help to find out whether one would be a good fit for the team or not (even though only a follow-up meeting in person might give you the real answer.)

If you want to present the job responsibilities in a more creative way you can show them in form of an info graphic instead of listing them as bullet points. Also that would make it look different.

3) The corporate video.

If you can add a corporate recruitment video to your job ad you would really make it memorable and unique. You can describe the corporate culture of a company in words but a video would give you a real insight what it could feel like to work for that company. You could also make it specific to each job role and describe it for example as “A typical day in the life of a Front End Developer at company xyz”. The internet would make it easily accessible and shareable. Watch Apple’s or Google’s corporate videos and ask yourself: Who would not be motivated to apply for a job at those companies after watching it?

4) Focus on the candidate’s benefits.

Talk about the benefits that a future employee can expect from the new company and bear in mind that it should be a “job ad” and not a pure job/company profile description. Focus therefore on: compensation packages, attractive perks, corporate culture, working conditions rather than giving information about the person who needs to be reported to, details about the company (that can be researched on the corporate website too) etc. Put the candidate in the centre of attention!

5) Provide a challenge to solve!

If you want to expose jobseekers to a particular challenge then don’t hesitate to include a particular hands-on task in your job ad. This will help you to weed out the good ones from the poor ones.

One company tried to challenge potential computer engineers in a particular creative way. Instead of publishing the corporate phone number straight away it has been presented as a mathematical task. Only those who know the correct answer will be able to ring up the company.

Other tips that you should not ignore are as follows:

• Choose good words. If you write in an engaging style you will gain more attention and interest from your readers. Pay attention to your copy text. Ask yourself: Would I also apply to this job?
• Make it social media friendly. Allow the job ad to be spread easily by other people online with a simple click on various social media website icons.
• Make it easy to apply for the job. Offer different options how people can submit their application for a particular job. This will help to increase the number of potential talent, particularly for a job which might be difficult to fill.

Remember, also when drafting a job ad the old AIDA formula (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) in advertising is still valid.