Recruiters need a variety of skills to land top candidates. They must be articulate, intelligent, and personable. They must be persistent and have excellent follow-through. But they must also have writing skills that allow them to come up with intriguing and informative job descriptions to attract candidates to the roles they’re hiring. Since most jobs start with a job description and ad placed on a job board, what the recruiter writes is vitally essential to attracting candidates. Here are some tips for improving the quality of your next job description.  

Writing a Better Ad  

There are some basic tenets when writing a job description. First, most recruiters understand they must use keywords to help candidates find your ad. Making sure the job description has phrases, and a job title that your target audience will search for is crucial to the process of attracting candidates.   

It would be best if you also focused on coming up with the critical qualities necessary to succeed in the role. This includes both soft and hard skills. A list of five or six skills will help you specify who you’re looking for and attract a better candidate pool. These are all standard ways to write a better job ad.   

But we think these three things will make your job ad stand out from a crowded ocean of companies looking for the same types of candidates you are. What can you do to stand out from the crowd?   

  1. Write a better ad than anyone else. Try not to write the same old dry ad that everyone else does. Instead, consider the type of candidate you’re looking for and the skills they need. Try putting yourself in their shoes. What kind of ad do you think would interest them? Should it be funny or snarky? Skip clichéd and overused phrases that everyone else uses and truly make your ad stand out. For example, how many times do you see “fast-paced work environment,” or “highly motivated self-starters” in job board ads?   
  2. Communicate fundamental values and sell company culture in the ad. What are the company’s mission and values? What are the people like that you already have on your team? What kind of work environment do they have? What’s essential to the team your candidate will join? This is an excellent place to add a video; you can let other workers tell the story of the work environment.  
  3. Make it warm and welcoming. Stiff, boring job descriptions will turn people off. It’s okay to have a little fun and breathe some life into your job descriptions. When you write the ad, read it with a fresh eye and try to determine, is this the job for you?   

At the same time, try not to go too over the top; your job candidates may not believe your enthusiasm and be skeptical that the environment is really what you make it out to be.  

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