Every hiring process starts with a job advert. In many cases this is the first impression a candidate will have of the role and company.
In 2024 more people than ever are searching and applying for jobs on Resume-Library – but competition to find the very best candidates is fierce. To attract the top talent, your job adverts need to stand out – for the right reasons! That’s why understanding what to include in your job adverts is crucial.
1/ The Job Hunter’s Perspective
Your first task when writing a job post is to capture the job hunter’s attention – and then keep it for long enough to attract the right candidate to the role. The best way to do this is to understand what job hunters are looking for in a job advert.
What Will Capture Their Attention?
There are some factors you simply must include in your job post – because job hunters are scanning job posts looking out for them.
You’ll immediately lose three-quarters of all potential applicants if you fail to mention:
- Location
- Job title
- Salary
- Working hours
You’ll lose half of all potential applicants if you fail to mention:
- Holiday allowance
- Training
- Company culture
- Company brand
- Career path
More than one-quarter of all potential applicants care about the perks.
What Details Will They Prioritize?
Now that we know which factors are make or break for potential applicants, let’s prioritize them. Here are the key factors job hunters look for in a job advert in order of priority:
- Salary
- Location
- Working hours
- Job title
- Benefits
- Career path
- Holiday allowance
- Training
- Company culture (including diversity & inclusion)
- Company brand
- Workplace perks (e.g. staff discounts, free food, socials)
How Much Time Do You Have?
Hint: 20 is the magic number
You have a very small window of opportunity to capture a job hunter’s attention. This is a crucial factor to consider when writing your job advert.
Most people spend less than half an hour at a time browsing job posts. only 20% spend more than half an hour at a time, and 23.5% stick with it for over an hour at a time.
Within each browsing session, most people move on to the next job advert after just 20 seconds. Only 31% spend longer than 20 seconds reading each post.
2/ So, What Should Your Job Advert Cover?
Let’s look at some of the key elements of a job post in more detail.
Include Location
Location is relevant, even in this post-COVID era when remote and hybrid working are strong trends. Include as much information as possible about the location in your job post.
Job adverts that display a City and State in the location field receive +31% more applications than average, while adverts with just the City receive +8% more applications than average.
Include Salary
To include or not to include a salary remains one of the grey areas in recruitment, with some salary ranges providing little or no genuinely useful information. Job adverts that include a salary receive, on average, 20% more applications than those that don’t.
Include a Useful Job Title
Keep it simple: There are no points for originality when it comes to job titles. No one is going to be searching for ‘Marketing Superstar’, ‘Sales Ninja’ or ‘Web and Digital Overlord’ jobs. Stick with tried-and-true job titles and save your creativity for the job description!
Top 10 most searched-for jobs in 2023
- Mechatronic Engineer
- Robotic Engineer
- Robotic Integrator
- Robotic Technician
- Greeter
- IT Manager
- Doctor
- Cashier
- Registered Nurse
- Automation Engineer Robotic
Keep it short: Candidates are more likely to apply for a job with a short and easy-to-read job title. Remember that you’ve only got 20 seconds to convince a job hunter to read your full job advert – before that they are just scanning. So, your job title needs to quickly inform readers of exactly what the job vacancy is.
Job adverts with short, clear job titles receive more applications than those with longer job titles.
A job title of:
- 20 characters or less receives 16 applications on average
- 20-30 characters receives 12 applications on average
- Over 30 characters receives 11 applications on average.
Keep Your Job Description Snappy
Be brief: Across most industries candidates are more likely to apply for a job with a shorter description than those with too much detail. Some roles or industries require lengthier descriptions but, as a rule, job descriptions of 200 words or less receive the most applications.
Make it easy to scan: Use bullet points and subtitles to break up the content.
Include four key elements:
- A brief introduction to the company
- An overview of the role and responsibilities
- Key requirements, such as qualifications and skills
- Perks and benefits
Keep the company description brief: Most candidates are more interested in the job they’ll be doing than the company they’ll be working for.
3/ Post Your Advert at the Right Time
It’s important to get the maximum exposure for your job advert by posting it when your candidates are most active.
Most job hunters scan job posts several times a day.
Tuesday is the most popular day for job hunters to view job posts.
However, there are optimum days, and optimum times of day for applications.
(Note that details can vary according to industry. Resume-Library customers can find more information by talking to their Client Support Coordinator.)
Make Sure Your Job Posts Are Up at the Start of the Week
The first half of the week is the optimum time for job applications across the board, peaking on a Wednesday. Significantly fewer people apply for jobs over the weekend.
The optimum time of day for applications is noon.
This pattern indicates that employed job hunters often look for new jobs and even complete applications while they are at work in their current jobs, suggesting a level of disengagement with their current role.
4/ Optimize Your Advert
Your job advert must not only capture and engage the attention of job hunters, but also carry them all the way through the application process.
There are several things you can do to transform job hunters into applicants.
Keep the Application Form Short and Simple
If your job advert views are high but applications are low, you might need to tweak your application process.
Short is sweet: 71% of candidates expect to spend no more than 15 minutes completing an application form and 38% of candidates are less likely to apply if the application form is long and complicated.
Make the application process seamless: Applicants are often put off by having to switch sites to complete an application process. According to some estimates, 90% of job seekers abandon applications on external sites. A job board and ATS integration instantly increases your application numbers by presenting candidates with a seamless application process.
At Resume-Library we’ve integrated with over 40 ATSs – check here to see if your ATS is already integrated with us.
Make Adverts Cell Phone-Friendly
62% of all applications are completed on a cell phone, so it’s important to make sure your job posts are cell phone-friendly.
Review Your Job Adverts
It’s important to review and refresh your job adverts regularly and make any necessary tweaks to ensure optimum performance.
If you’ve got all the details right, your advert will stand out, rank well, and attract the attention of the right candidates.
If this isn’t happening, review not just the sites on which you’ve placed your advert, but where on those sites your advert appears:
- Page 1 is key
- 76% of job hunters will look at page 2
- Only 33% will look at page 3
It may be worth paying for a Premium Product (see below) to boost the ranking of your advert and ensure it comes to the attention of your target candidates.
Use Additional Features and Products
Resume-Library offers a range of key features and premium products to help maximize the effect of your job advert, including:
- Quick Apply: Toggle on this feature for free to accept applications from candidates without a resume. Quick Apply jobs receive +31% more applications than regular jobs.
- Custom Screening Questions: Ask candidates up to five questions and filter out the best applicants. This is great if you’re inundated with applications and short on time.
- Premium Featured Jobs: Ensure your jobs stand out and boost them to the top of search results. Premium Featured Jobs receive +354% more applications per job than average.
- CPM Display Advertising: Drive more traffic to your company profile and your jobs.
If you’re still struggling for applications, why not identify potential candidates through a resume database search? Learn more!
Summary
By following our guide you’ll improve your chances of attracting the ideal candidates and keeping their attention right through the application process. Here are the key points to remember:
- Make sure your checklist of what to include in your job post aligns with what job hunters are looking for.
- Don’t use complicated or creative job titles – keep them simple, to make sure job hunters can easily find the role they’re looking for.
- Keep the job advert brief and simple, with an emphasis on the job description – i.e. what the successful applicant will be doing.
- Optimise your job advert by posting at the right time, and using premium tools to promote visibility.
Contact us on 1-800-672-6706, [email protected] or speak to your Account Manager for more ways we can help, and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest candidate insights.
About Our Findings
The data in this article is collated via a March 2024 CV-Library Group candidate survey, and analysis made by our team of data scientists of the millions of data points on our site. All stats are accurate as of March 2024.