7 Reasons Your Job Ad Will Be Ignored

7 Reasons Your Job Ad Will Be Ignored Its that time of year when people reflect. They reflect on the year theyve left behind, the positives and the negatives, and peer into the future. What does it hold for them? What do they want this year from their career? Smart business leaders would be making sure they capitalise on this contemplative period. Want to draw good people to your business? The time is now. To make sure your job description doesnt fall on deaf ears  (blind eyes?) it needs to pass basic tests with flying colours and keep prospective employees interested! Unless youre the coolest company in the world that people would give their left leg to work at, youve got to avoid these basic errors or youll pay with quality candidates. Before you post that vacancy online, make sure you havent made these basic  errors: 1.  Theres no title on there It sounds so  blatantly obvious, but youd be surprised at how many job ads fly around with no real title stipulated. And even if there is one, sometimes its so vague that it could mean a million and one different things. If youve opted for Consultant, then great but youve got to bring it to life.  That one title could refer to a shop assistant, a hair dresser or a client-facing bank manager. People need to be drawn in, and often that starts with the title. 2. No years of experience required mentioned People with loads of relevant experience will be turned away if theres no mention of the roles level. They want to know form the job spec that level-wise, this would be a step up for them, or offer a rewarding challenge. If theres no indication of how senior the role is, you run the risk of these great candidates misconstruing things and ignoring the ad.  Likewise if the role is a junior one, you might turn away these candidates, who might think the roles too senior for them. Make it straight-forward. 3. No sense of workplace culture We know that people have a lot of choice about where they work they not only need to feel the role is right for them, but that the environment and culture matches with their own set of values and personality. If the job description doesnt talk about the type of energy  / culture or  include any mention of the social aspects, you will leave no real emotional impression on the person and theyll likely leave it. 4. No descriptive language Further to my last point, if your job ad doesnt include any descriptive language, and merely states the same cold, hard facts you use on all of your job ads, you need to get a bit creative. Im not saying you have to  write the job description as a poem, but at least make it unique and reflect the type of role youre hiring for. Using a slightly conversational tone to properly outline the opportunity will make for easier reading, and using words that  properly describe the post and type of person youre looking for will help the right people identify with the position quicker. 5. Boring buzzwords everywhere Obviously you want the person to be responsible, a self-starter who is professional and demonstrates high attention to detail, but come on,  tell us something we dont already know and assume to be the case! Actually honing down into specific skill-sets and attributes will capture the attention of the right type of candidates, rather than the everyone and no-one  that cares to push through the cliches. 6. Spelling mistakes bad grammar Most people want to feel like theyre joining a reputable organisation. It doesnt matter how senior the role is or how great the company is, if your job description is poorly written and full of mistakes, youll turn away candidates who place high importance on written language! 7. No indication of salary Most candidates will appreciate that recruiters and hiring companies cant show their cards too early and promise a salary on the job description, but there should at least be some mention of salary, to let applicants know that your company values the importance of employees being  financially rewarded  for their hard work. While putting a ball-park range is ideal, as it allows candidates to assess whether its a desirable position for them on a financial level or not, simply mentioning competitive salary or salary dependant on applicant will do the trick for the time being. Failing to make any mention of salary might make candidates think its not being mentioned for a particular reason, or that its low and not worthy of mention. While it isnt all about money, candidates need to know that this is a priority and will be addressed throughout the process that they wont be kept in the dark. At the end of the day, the more you can bring the role to life, the more chance you will have at attracting great, relevant candidates!