Job Listing Advice

The Ideal Job Listing

A good job listing is just as important for an employer as a good CV is for an employee. It will ensure that you attract the perfect candidates for your position the following are a few pointers to keep in mind:

The Do’s:

• Have a well structured and neatly organised advert.
• Clear and straightforward title with the name of the role you’re looking to fill.
• Include sufficient details in the advert’s content.
• Use good but clear English (or whatever language your ad is in) and include synonyms for the job title and give a clear description of the skills required in order to cover a large number of potential ‘job seeker search terms.’
• Select the respective category: Functions – Sectors – Statuses – etc. Directly related to the role you are wanting to fill.

The Don’ts:

• Have large blocks of cluttered text.
• Have an overly long Job Title mentioning a whole bunch of rambling.
• Advertise multiple jobs in one ad – one job per ad and to the point wording is best.
• Avoid adding a list of keywords in the text of your ad – this will have a very negative impact on the relevance ranking of your ad.
• Avoid using jargon or acronyms that aren’t very easy to understand.
• Name your videos or images with important information, as this text is not accessible to the search!

Advert Structure

The Job Title:

By keeping things simple and to the point you will eliminate any confusion when it comes to the role requirements of the position. Try using accessible and universal job descriptors avoiding any unknown abbreviations and acronyms.

• Avoid using more than one job title in the main Job Title, even if they are all included for semantic search purposes.
• Avoid including all the details of the job (where it is – when it starts – etc) in the title. This will only lower the ranking of it and cause a bunch of unnecessary clutter in the search.

Synopsis:

In the synopsis, you will need to include a brief description of your company – as well as an overview of the position and the title of the position. It needs to be short and to the point.

Job Description:

Here you give a summary of the main duties and responsibilities associated with the position you are seeking to fill. Make sure the potential candidate gets a realistic idea of what this function entails and what would be expected of him/her, but don’t overload your ad with overly specific details.

• Do not mention skills here; those will be listed in the next section (candidate profile).
• To boost your ad in the relevance ranking, it is interesting to use some synonyms for the job title you are hiring.
• Specific information about the job at hand: starting date, working schedule (part-time of full time, shifts, weekends, holidays…), traveling needs…

Experience – Qualifications – Skills:

In this section, you need to list all the qualifications needed for the position. Be it the educational background, any experience, and skills required to be eligible for the position.

• Clearly state the minimum requirements and the optional requirements when it comes to education, experience, and skills.
• You can also mention other requirements such as Driver’s Licence, country of residence/working permit or labour status, etc.
• Don’t overdo it though – a lengthy list of requirements can be discouraging or key elements can be overlooked easier if the list is long-winded.

Benefits:

Here you will state all the things the position will offer the candidate – you need to sell your business as well as the candidate needs to sell themselves to get the job. Include things like the working environment, potential growth opportunities, bonuses, etc.

Last Few Pieces of Advice:

• Be sure to proofread your ad and once you’ve done that, get someone else to proofread it for you. If you can find someone in a similar position to the one you are advertising that would be even better.
• Treat the job ad as an ad for your business, it is a chance for your business to stand out above the rest attracting the best possible candidates.