The perfect job advert - tips for your search

With increasing competition for the best talent, it's important to create job adverts that stand out from the crowd and attract the best candidates. This article looks at how to create job adverts that attract the interest of potential applicants. From targeting your audience and writing compelling job descriptions to presenting your company in a positive light and creating attractive incentives, here's how to do it.  

Target group

Before you create a job advert, you should be clear about who you want to address with it. The following aspects relating to the target group should be taken into account:

• Age: Is the job more suitable for young professionals or is experience required? Choose wording that appeals to the desired target group.

• Professional experience:This is about estimating how much experience is required for the position. Accordingly, you should specify entry levels such as "career starters welcome" or "initial work experience required" in the advert.

• Education: What level of education and qualifications are required? This also includes certain language skills or soft skills. These should be clearly communicated.

• Industry: Is it a position that requires industry knowledge? Then it makes sense to target people who have already worked in the industry.

• Favourite channels: Which communication channel does the target group prefer? The job adverts should be distributed via the preferred channels.

• Needs and goals: What are the wishes and goals of the target group? What drives them? The job advert should be formulated in such a way that it appeals to the target group.

Job description

A detailed description helps suitable applicants to get a good idea of the position so that they know what to expect and whether the job suits them.

• Give an overview of the position and briefly explain the role within the organisation.  

• List the core tasks and responsibilities. This gives applicants a good insight into their potential activities.  

• Describe the required qualifications, skills and experience. Make sure the job profile is realistic and clear.

• Also address "nice-to-have" requirements that are not a prerequisite for employment.

• Avoid empty phrases and buzzwords. Formulate the requirements in concrete terms.  

• Give applicants an impression of the daily tasks and the working environment.

• Mention special features of the position such as travelling, shift work or project work

Company presentation

In addition to the specific details of the advertised position, job adverts should always provide a brief insight into the company itself. Potential applicants want to know what kind of company they would be working for. The company presentation in job adverts can include the following aspects:

• Industry and business field of the company

• Company history, founding date and milestones

• Products and services

• Company size (number of employees, turnover, international locations, etc.)

• Corporate culture and values (e.g. team orientation, work-life balance)

• Social commitment and CSR initiatives

Make sure to keep the company presentation short and concise so as not to lose the applicant's attention. A brief insight into the corporate culture and values is enough to arouse interest. If you would like to find out more, you can visit the company website.  

Benefits

An attractive salary is certainly one of the strongest incentives you can offer applicants. The salary range should be appropriate to the industry and position and, if possible, even be slightly higher in order to attract particularly qualified candidates. However, the other benefits offered to potential employees are at least as important as the salary. These include, for example:

• Flexible working hours and the option to work from home
• Allowances for pension schemes 
• Perks such as job tickets or petrol vouchers
• Health offers such as a gym, massage or health check-up
• Free fruit, drinks and snacks at the workplace

Opportunities for professional development should also be emphasised in a job advertisement. Many applicants attach great importance to being able to gain further qualifications and advance in their job. Topics such as employee appraisals, potential analyses, internal further training, mentoring programmes or taking on more responsibility are important aspects here. By specifically naming the benefits and development opportunities, you can target the best candidates who are not just interested in salary.
 

Wording

When formulating the job advert, it is important to use positive and inviting language. Instead of listing a long list of requirements, it is better to focus on the benefits of the position. Use active instead of passive voice. Describe what the future employee can achieve in the position instead of just listing the daily tasks. Avoid negations and refrain from phrases such as "You should be able to work under pressure". Describe the position in such a way that the reader can imagine fulfilling it. Put yourself in the applicant's shoes. Positive language motivates suitable candidates to apply. They will feel welcome and valued.

Optics

The visual appearance of a job advert is crucial for attracting the attention of potential applicants. The following points should be taken into account:

• Layout: The layout should be clear and structured. Important information such as job title, company and location should be visually emphasised. Use paragraphs, subheadings and bulleted lists to make the advert easy to read.
   
• Typeface: Use a sans serif font such as Arial or Verdana in an appropriate size. The body text should not be too small (at least 11pt). A larger font can be used for headings. Ensure sufficient line spacing for good readability.
   
• Display structure: Proceed in an organised manner - the most important information first. Group and organise the text with subheadings. Avoid long blocks of text and list requirements and benefits instead. A column structure can increase readability.
   
• Images: Images loosen up the look and draw the eye. Use photos of the company, products or team to make the advert more visually appealing. Make sure that the images are of high quality and authentic - you can often tell whether they are of your own company or stock photos. Ideally, the people in the photos should resemble the target group so that they can identify with the position.
   
• Colour: Colour accents make the ad stand out visually, but should be chosen sparingly and carefully. Too many colours can quickly create a restless effect. Limit yourself to one or two striking colours - preferably matching the corporate design.

An appealing look is an important success factor in ensuring that a job advert reaches and appeals to the right applicants. Therefore, invest some time in the layout and visual design. If you lack this, the AI-supported applicant management software INJOBS offers the great advantage that the layout creation is taken off your hands and the advert is automatically created in the appropriate corporate design.
 

Publication

Publishing the job advert is another important aspect of creating effective job adverts. There are various options here:

Job portals
Popular job portals such as Stepstone or Indeed are a good way to reach many potential applicants. Job adverts can be placed here in a targeted manner and you can benefit from the portals' wide reach and high profile.

Social media
Social media channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram or XING are also a good way to distribute job adverts. Here you can also search specifically for suitable candidates and distribute the adverts. The advantage is that you can usually address your own followers and contacts directly.

Your own website
Of course, the job advert should also be published on the company's own website. Potential applicants often find out about vacancies on the company's careers page first. The advert can be designed comprehensively and attractively here.

A combination of several channels is usually the most effective way of generating a wide reach and attention for the job advert and thus attracting the best candidates. However, it can quickly take a lot of time to target applications on the many different channels. This is also where applicant management software comes into play: INJOBS can be used to manage all job adverts on all possible channels, including offline channels.

Optimising job ads with AI

Writing convincing job adverts may seem time-consuming at first glance, but it is crucial for attracting the right talent and thus enabling targeted selection. If you want to simplify this process, you can make use of AI. It is advisable to use AIs that specialise in creating job advertisements to avoid unnatural or repetitive wording.

With the help of AI-supported applicant management systems, job advertisements can be created and optimised much faster. The AI can analyse the job description and suggest suitable wording. This allows the job advert to be tailored more specifically to the advertised position.

Conclusion

Writing convincing job adverts requires a careful approach and strategy. The most important points are:

• Describe the position clearly and in detail. Focus on the core tasks and requirements.

• Present the company and corporate culture authentically. Applicants want to know whether they will fit into the team.

• Emphasise incentives such as further training, flexible working hours or special benefits. This makes a job attractive.

• Choose an appealing visual design with a clear layout.

• Use the right channels for advertising and reach passive candidates.

• Use applicant management systems for efficient processes, especially when there is a high volume of applications.

We hope these tips will help you create compelling job adverts and attract the best candidates! Find out more about AI-powered job advert management here.