Attract Top Talent

How to write Winning Ad copy -
The 4 C's

Firstly let's establish the 'buyer behaviour' of candidates because how a candidate searches for a role is important to establish.

This is where many firms devote a lot of money on a range of communications activities to engage and attract potential employees. Most organisations still use a single print or online job advertisement when recruiting. This type of advertising - particularly in print - is not cheap.

However, the clear majority prefer to search for roles online. Traditional print media is losing its relevance, particularly for Generation Y. The proliferation of new media and the demand for convenient information services means Generation Y are more likely to target web-based employment boards when job-hunting.

While advertisements are seen as a good insight into a firm, it is easy to misrepresent the organisation by sounding pedestrian or full of jargon. We asked a selection of our candidates what words they hate seeing in job advertisements and this is what they came up with:

Words and Phrases candidates HATE

"Exciting"
"Exciting is not the correct word to describe a role. If the role was to be a beer taster, then that would be exciting."

"Must have experience/experience necessary"
"You can't get experience without getting the job first!"

"Leading"
"How many leading firms do you think there are in the World?"

"Innovative"
"Space travel is innovative, balancing accounts and conducting audits is not!"

"Dynamic / fast paced"
"Sounds like spinning out of control and exhausting!"

Other features in job adverts that turned our candidates off were :

Anonymity
"If you think you're so good to work for, why wont you tell us who you are?."

Actual details of salary -
"very tacky."
So what does work in advertising? The 4c's of ad writing.

Be Clear

Be open and honest about the role and describe the key skill sets you are seeking. If the role is very administrative, then admit it, "hands on" is just a smokescreen. What you mean is "we are seeking a candidate who is highly capable at putting procedures in place and who is not afraid to use them". Similarly only use the phrase "highly strategic role" if you are happy for someone to spend lots of time in meetings and brainstorming sessions. If what you actually want is someone to audit your current situation, conduct market research and then write motivational business plans - say so!

Be Concise

No-one has the inclination to digest every word in your advert, so you need to grab them with the key message straight away. The use of bullet points is a popular way of focusing attention on salient points such as job level, location and scope of role.

• Director Level
• National Responsibility
• Sydney Location

Be Consistent

One of the 1st things prospective applicants will do is check your website. Don't sell your firm as "creative" if your website reads like a car engine manual and if you have stock photos of /busy executives holding folios or pointing at pie charts.

Be Contactable

Next time you read the job pages of the newspaper, play this game. See how many companies describe themselves as "friendly", "open culture", "people developers" and then see how many refuse to give you a name and telephone number to call. What is that about?? It's a competitive world out there, trust me you won't receive thousands of calls. Make yourself readily available to discuss the organisation and the role in more detail. Every enquiry is a possible new recruit or a possible client.

Good Luck!