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Why detailed job ads are important to attract passive candidates?

Job ads are very vital to attract candidates; particularly, when you are looking for passive candidates who are already well settled, your job ad should be descriptive and "attractive" enough for the passive candidates to apply for the job. The article below explains why detailed job ads are important to attract passive candidates and offers tips for recruiters on how to write a detailed and effective job ad.

Recruiters must ensure their job ads are capable of attracting passive candidates, says Aspire Solutions International rec-to-rec specialist, Luke Carolan.

As a recruitment consultant it can become easy to see each advertisement as "just another job", he says, but it's important to keep in mind that from a job seeker's perspective it represents the next step in their career and might involve a life-changing decision.

To distinguish themselves from HR managers - who constantly need convincing about the extra value that justifies a recruiter's fees - recruiters must write job ads that are capable of attracting candidates who aren't "actively" looking for jobs, he says.

HR professionals, Carolan says, still tend to write job ads that say, "Our company requires this; this is what we're looking for".

"That's not enough," he says. "All that's going to attract is people that are already actively looking. What you really want is people who... are not really looking and are happy where they are, but they're just perusing [job sites], having a look at what's available and checking to see if they're being paid what they're worth."

Both SEEK and CareerOne surveys confirm that "passive" candidates do visit job sites when they're not actively looking for a new role, he says. "They're the goldmine that recruiters have to attract... I know I've had a lot of people say 'I wasn't actively looking, but I was having a bad day at work... and your ad stood out and that's why I applied for it'."

More Information

Candidates want more detail, not less, when it comes to information about their prospective employer, Carolan says.

Recruiters who fail to include a high level of detail out of fear that another consultant will "steal" their job are operating on a false premise, he says.

"If someone is saying that, they haven't taken the job order properly, and they don't have a good relationship with the client.

"A good client is someone who's not dealing with a lot of other [recruiters] so you haven't got a lot of competition. You've got that business brickwalled, so you know that even if another agent calls them, they're not going to take that business. They're going to stick with you and the others that they're working with."

Aside from details about the job, he says, the vital questions recruiters must ask their clients in order to promote the employer's point of difference are, "What's different about you?" and, "Why would the best people in the market want to work for you?"

Recruiters should listen carefully for any factor that is mentioned more than once, Carolan says, "because you know that is a strong factor or motivator of the business and its representative".

A lot of recruiters don't want to ask those questions, he notes. "They feel 'this person's giving me something, I don't want to be that forthright', but if you do have the courage to say it and the person comes back with, 'We're the best at this; we do this for our staff; we give people a day off each week to do charitable activities; we remunerate people exceptionally; or we're the number one in the world at what we do', it helps you to put that in your job ad.

"When people look at your job ad, instead of seeing, 'This person is required with these skills', candidates who aren't actively looking are going to look at that ad and go 'wow, I'm going to apply for that job'."

Write a Strong Summary

Research shows that job seekers check the ad summary for remuneration details, location and the job title before anything else, Carolan says, so "your summary should be clean, to the point and effective".

But the most effective ads also contain a "hook", he says, which appeals to the ideal candidate you're aiming to attract.

A hook should never be vague, "so don't say things like 'funky, dynamic environment' - that's a massive 'no no'".

Carolan says recruiters should keep in mind the following points when writing ads:
Clients do check advertisements. Does your ad represent the client correctly and attract the candidates it is seeking?

What kind of ad response do you want? Are you looking for a targeted response with specific candidates or a broad response for maximum resumes?

How easily can your ad be found? "Keep in mind many candidates will be using a key word search. This means it’s a good idea to have the title of the position mentioned three times within the body of the ad. When listing the ad be specific, especially on things like location. A 'Sydney CBD' opportunity will be found in a 'Sydney' search however a 'Sydney' opportunity will not be found in a 'Sydney CBD' search."

Your job ad should specify, as a minimum:
  • location;
  • money;
  • required experience/qualifications;
  • description of the position and your client;
  • why the opportunity is available;
  • what's special about the opportunity and client;
  • duties of the position;
  • how long the opportunity will stay available;
  • your contact details; and
  • how to apply.
Source: www.recruiterdaily.com.au

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