New methods of finding staff for your business pop up year after year. Some of it fails and businesses who commit to them discover this the hard way. Other technologies and ways of job advertising consistently deliver and are here to stay. Whether you have been advertising vacancies for decades or just starting out. Here are some of the issues we all face and our tips on how to resolve them.

1. A poorly written job advert

Writing the advert itself is where it all begins. Not only is this the first step into advertising a vacancy with your business, it is also one of the most important. Great content that is formatted correctly can make a huge difference in not only the number of applications but also the quality. For us we see this as easily one of the most important steps getting your job advertising right.

A job advert should be viewed through Goldilocks tinted glasses where everything needs to be “just right”. This isn’t to say that an advert should be written with surgical precision, but consideration on it’s length, content, readability and engagement factor should always be taken on board.

Length of advert

If a job advert is too short the readers will not take it seriously. An advert too long and it may come across as overwhelming and miss out on key parts that fade into the bulk of it. Ideally you want to aim for somewhere between 250 to 300 words when putting together your job description.

Content

Make sure that the content of your job description is relevant to your audience. Include a summary of the business and how employing the right candidate would be a valuable asset. Be sure to identify the key points for the role and also requirements of the potential applicants.

Readability

If your job advert is written poorly without grammar and punctuation and not broken down into appropriate sections that make the advert easy to ready it will quickly become boring and difficult to read and the small amount of time usually taken to read the ad will be spent clicking elsewhere. See what I mean? Each section of the advert should be broken down into paragraphs and bullet points. Get your point across easily and you will see the results improve.

Engagement

Some people need a little encouragement when it comes to performing simple tasks like submitting a job application. There is no harm in having a little call to action asking them to apply today or send their CV directly.

2. The wrong advertising medium

Take a leaf from some of the biggest brands in the world and you’ll quickly see how advertising in the wrong place will bring nothing but disappointment. Imagine advertising dentures and mobility accessories in a teen magazine and Patek Philippe watches in tabloid newspapers. Not the brightest of advertising campaigns. The same applies for you job advert.

Print & Press Job Advertising

It is fair to say that print job advertising has been on the decline for a long time now. Circulation of printed newspapers has dropped dramatically over the past two decades with a decline in 27% between 2003 to 2014. This doesn’t mean that finding the right person or people for your business is impossible through the use of newspaper and industry specific magazine job advertising.

There are publications for almost every sector and within each publication will be a jobs classifieds section where experienced people will be looking for work. If you do choose to publish an advert this way do not hold your breath for a lot of applications but do expect the ones received to be of a decent quality.

Social Media

Facebook have recently added a new feature. It allows business to post vacancies to their page that automatically feeds to Facebook’s own job board. We have been making use of this for the past 9-12 months and have seen some great results. The application levels are high but some of them are of low quality. Despite this, Facebook has the added benefit of very active job groups ranging from generic job posting to industry specific depending on your needs.

Should you decide to take to social media to advertise your vacancies be aware of the user demographic. Whilst Facebook drives a decent number of applications for your jobs, they are not always relevant. For more senior and executive roles LinkedIn is the better choice out of the three big platforms.

Online Job Board Advertising

Job advertising websites and job boards have been paving the way for finding candidates easily online. They are specific, easy to use and millions of people in the UK are using them on a monthly basis. If you are confused about which websites to use head over to our Job Advertising Accelerated article. Here we outline our chosen boards that are used in our Fixed Fee Recruitment packages and why.

3. Too many applications

Candidate management is a crucial part of the hiring process and if done incorrectly it will have negative impacts on your business. Those who genuinely wish to work for you may have a bad perception of your company if you fail to contact them regarding their application.

Too many applications doesn’t always mean hundreds. It can also be a handful of CVs when you do not have the time to check through them. If you do not have time to contact them, arrange interviews and move forward with the process you will lose them. It is really that simple! In order to save time and money you should schedule in a period for advertising where you will be able to be on the ball with filtering and arranging interviews with successful applicants.

4. “Job Advertising is too expensive”

Advertising is rarely cheap but that doesn’t mean it always works. Some mediums charge into the thousands and can deliver absolutely nothing. This is a risk you take with posting job adverts online, in newspapers, on the side of busses and more. When making the investment you should take every step necessary to ensure you get the best results for your money.

Companies like ours are here to help with advert optimisation, candidate management and even advertising discounts. We are also so confident in our ability to deliver we offer a Pay on Performance job advertising service where you pay nothing until you’re happy. Take your time, shop around, speak to the experts and get it right first time. The i4 Resourcing team have spent years honing their job posting abilities to near perfection so you don’t have to. We also offer dramatically reduced rates vs going direct to job boards and websites.

5. Advertising isn’t suitable for your industry or role

Job listings can see more than 200 applications in a day. Others can see nothing in months. Take a step back and assess what has been done building up to posting your ad. Your job advert was written professionally, you’ve posted it to a multitude of websites and other platforms. You have even been sat there with the phone in hand ready to call anybody that sends their CV through. But still nothing.

Some things just aren’t meant to be. We can blame it on the role’s location, salary bracket, online and printed exposure. But you already have staff that are paid handsomely and you have gone all out on the advertising because getting this member of staff will all be worth it. What if the people you’re looking for aren’t looking for you? What if they have a rewarding job already with a comfortable salary? If this is the case it will take a little more than advertising to grab their attention.

Recruitment Agencies & Consultants

Chances are if you need somebody to fill a specialist role, the people you are looking for are already hired. If the job is quite specialist or senior they are unlikely to be reading through newspapers and sifting through job websites to find something else. This is where a recruitment consultant can make the difference to your company’s hiring requirements.

A consultant will have a thorough understanding of your industry and vacancies you wish to fill. They will also take a more hands on approach freeing up more of your time to focus on other aspects of your business. The work of a recruitment consultant covers everything from targeted advertising of the role, pre-screening a shortlist of candidates, negotiating terms and arranging interviews.

i4 Resourcing – Tailored Advertising Solutions

Should you require any further assistance with either of the above mentioned dilemmas please get in touch. Our team of advertising experts, account managers and more are here to help. You can reach any of us on 01603 415100 or click here to send an email.