Recruiting to attract talent into your team is essential to allow your business to continue moving in the right direction but, there is a whole host of reasons that your advert may fail to achieve your expectations and subsequently result in not hiring.
Here are our top tips on how to ensure that your job advert is attracting the right talent:
1. Job Title
Job titles are so important not only to give insight as to what the role involves but also for the role to come up in searches in the first place. If you have a job title that is very specialist or that is specific to your company, candidates are not likely to search for it so the views will be low and so will the number of applications. Think about what terms candidates will search for and remember, it does not necessarily have to be the title that is on their job description. Something similar but more likely to be search for is probably a better bet.
2. The Salary
While a lot of companies advertise the salary as ‘competitive’ or ‘negotiable’, this can actually hinder your chances of attracting top talent. What you will most likely find is that candidates will skip over your job advert altogether. A salary range on an advert helps a prospective candidate to gauge the level of a job and whilst money will not be a top priority for everyone, it is still a large consideration for most.
3. Format
You want people to read your job adverts, so the least you can do is make them easy to read! Ensure you have a clear structure, use subheadings and bullet points always help readability. Remember not to make the job advert too long – it needs to be informative enough to hook people in, but does not need to include every single task of their job description. A very long list of responsibilities could put potential candidates off.
4. The Location
The majority of candidates search for jobs by the city or county so this is the best method to advertise your vacancy. If your company is located in a small or isolated location, it may be beneficial to advertise this in the next largest area.
5. The Requirements
A lot of good candidates are put off applying for a role because they feel overwhelmed by the requirements. There are a lot of jobs that require extensive knowledge and experience. If these are truly essential for the position and you include them all, you may receive lower volumes of high-quality applications. If you seek to target a wider audience, so that you can filter appropriately, it may prove beneficial to review the requirements.
6. The Process
Whilst you do not want to make it so easy that everyone, qualified or not, can apply, you need to be mindful that a lengthy and laborious application process can deter candidates from applying. If you require someone to send in their CV, plus write a long cover letter and fill in a large application form, they may decide they have not got the time to apply, especially if they are already working full time.
Finding suitable candidates is the number one frustration when recruiting. Some companies prefer to outsource their recruitment to a company that is reliable, recognises the talent that will be a good fit for the business, and be very competitive with their fees.
If you would like any further advice regarding recruitment, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Ward Williams HR Call 01932 830664 or email hrservices@wardwilliams.co.uk.