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We often encounter businesses that have been struggling to fill long-standing vacancies. They’ve been posting jobs on sites like LinkedIn or Indeed, hoping to find qualified candidates among its millions of users – just like so many other companies doing the same.
Keep in mind, the right candidates are also seeking the right opportunities. To capture their interest, everything from how you present the role and its potential for their career to the platforms you advertise on must align with what suits their needs.
An effective advertisement strategy focuses on what resonates with your ideal candidates, allowing you to stand out and attract the best talent for your team.
When it comes to job openings, many businesses simply take a job description, make slight alterations, then post it as an advert. Since all they’ve done is describe the role and its requirements, it’s no wonder why they get very few applicants.
Here’s how you can create and implement an effective strategy that attracts qualified candidates.
Begin by identifying the best team members to develop your job advertisement strategy. Typically, these are people from HR or Talent Acquisition who are involved in the recruitment process. Hiring managers can also provide valuable insights into the ideal candidate profile for the role.
In situations like hiring for high-volume positions or hard-to-fill roles, you may choose to involve an external recruitment team. Whether it’s to supplement your existing recruitment capability or to handle the entire process, they can provide valuable input to help you develop a suitable approach.
Having the right structure for the content of a job advert allows you to quickly communicate the key information that potential candidates are looking for.
We recommend organising the content as outlined below:
Start with a job title that’s accurately reflects the role and is easily recognisable by potential candidates. Include a concise summary of the role’s purpose, key responsibilities, and how it fits within the organisation.
Good candidates are interested in roles that match their skills and experience. But there’s one thing that’s on their mind above all else: What’s in it for them?
Lead your job adverts with a description of the opportunities that the role can provide. You can break those opportunities down into three categories:
With the opportunity clearly laid out, you can now set your expectations to qualify for the role.
The job description should include the following information:
While some prefer to withhold this information until at least the first interview, candidates appreciate it when companies are more transparent. It will help set their expectations and attract suitable candidates.
Aside from the role itself, candidates will also be interested in knowing what your company is like.
Give a brief description about your company, its mission, values, and culture. You can also highlight what makes it unique, such as its position in the industry, significant milestones, or awards the company has received.
Provide directions on what interested candidates need to do to apply. Whether that’s clicking an “apply now” button on the page, emailing a CV and cover letter, or just reaching out to someone on your recruitment team, the next steps should be clear and unambiguous.
If you have any required documents or application deadlines, make sure to also mention it here.
A note on content: As you to develop different job postings, you will naturally build a library of content tailored to different roles. Keep these materials organised to serve as templates for future listings.
Now that you have the relevant information about the role, the next step is to figure out where you’re going to publish the job advert.
The largest platforms used by recruiters and candidates all over the world by far are LinkedIn and Indeed. If you aren’t already advertising jobs here, they’re good places to start.
You should also consider using job boards that cater specifically to certain industries or qualifications.
For example, we’ve had success using SecurityClearedJobs.com. Our focus on recruitment in the energy sector means that we often need to find candidates with security clearance. The platform helps us to advertise job openings directly to
professionals that meet key requirements for roles in the sector.
We recommend exploring job boards that align with your specific industry needs, as they can offer access to a more targeted and relevant talent pool.
One place that you should always publish on is your company website. It won’t have the same visibility and reach as dedicated job boards, but it helps build your employer brand and attract candidates who are already interested in your company.
While many job boards allow you to post jobs for free, they often come with limitations that affect the post’s reach, candidate quality, and access to other features.
For example, Indeed offers free basic job posting but with limited visibility. If you choose to upgrade to their paid options, your job post can be featured more prominently throughout their website.
LinkedIn offers paid job postings that provide more extensive targeting options and access to its vast professional network. Specialised job boards may offer only paid options, but they do give you access to features such as pre-screened candidates and applicant tracking tools.
Paid job ads generally help you reach more qualified candidates. How much you should pay will depend on your recruitment budget, urgency, industry, and specialisation of the role. It's worth noting that external recruitment partners may offer paid job board access as part of their services.
We partnered with a FinTech company that was hiring software developers throughout Europe with a target of filling 140 vacancies in six months. Despite a significant investment in LinkedIn job adverts, they were struggling to attract their desired volume of qualified applicants.
When we were tasked to support their recruitment, our first priority was to engage with professionals in the target countries to understand where candidates with the required skillsets were looking for jobs and posting their CVs.
Using the job boards and platforms they suggested, we developed a targeted advertisement strategy to fit the talent market in each country. This approach helped the company achieve their initial hiring goals and reduced their recruitment costs by 35%.
