------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIVACY NEWSLETTER 7
4 Key Elements In A Successful Job Ad.

If well qualified applicants do not apply for your vacancy, then neither the quality of the selection process, not the career opportunity provided is going to uplift the standard available to you within the shortlist. Everything you do after that is inviting you to settle for second best and compromising the results you can expect from the new employee.

The solution is to reach the maximum number of quality candidates in the first place! This requires an investment in advertising the position. Only then can you hope to have maximised the width and depth of the candidate pool and provided yourself the opportunity of finally selecting the best available candidate.

As with all advertising, this requires a knowledge of the dynamics of the job advertising market place which, in our case has been accumulated over the last 12 years and 500 advertisements. In summary, a structured approach is required;

1. Position Specification

• You need to have a clear detailed specification established first Ð Responsibilities, Key Performance Indicators, Competencies, Qualifications, Experiences, Behavioural Style, etc.
  
• If the specification is ÔwoollyÕ then the applicant pool will reflect that with a wide range of partially qualified candidates.
  

2. Reaching The Available Right Candidates

• The job ad will appear only once or twice, so it must reach the right target audience the first time.
  
• Where will your target employee be looking for this sort of opportunity?
  
• This comes down to a choice of media and often a decision on which day of the week to run the ad. There is a wide range of options, and all may have some part to play; News pages, employment pages, specialist journals, general internet sites and specialist internet sites are the primary ones.
  
• The capital city press pages continue to provide the highest proportion of quality candidates, whilst the internet provides the highest proportion of unqualified applicants.
  

3. Getting Them To Read Your Ad

• The job ad will appear amongst a significant number of competing ads for the same qualified candidates.
  
• How do you present and design your ad so that the best qualified candidates will stop to read your ad, rather than one for your competition that may be on the same page?
  
• Colour, high impact ad formats, reversed out type, emotive job titles, Big $ in the titles and many other devices are available.
  

4. Getting Them To Apply To Your Ad

• It is unlikely that a serious strong candidate, confident in their own capabilities, will apply for more than 3 positions in the same publication.
  
• That means that you have to be one of the 3 most appealing ads on the page if you want the top performers to apply to you. How can you be sure of that?
  
• Tell them 'WhatÕs In It For Them'
  - Interesting and challenging job content?
  - Career enhancement potential?
  - Ongoing personal training and development plans?
  - Financial rewards?
  - Position the employer as a 'winner'.
  
• Advertise using a recruitment consultant
  - Anonymity of employer prevents preconceptions about that employer preventing an application at all.
  - Application to a consultant ad carries no risk of flagging up the candidateÕs interest in moving to a competitor in the marketplace who might misuse the information.
  - Consultants trained and experienced in ad writing and placement are more likely to reach the candidates 'hot buttons' and secure an application from quality candidates.
  - Candidates will apply to Consultant ads on the basis that in the event they do not get this job, they may be considered for others later across the consultancy.
  

Job Advertising is just one fundamental stage of the
ARS Recruitment 9-Stage, 3 Dimensional Recruitment Process.
Providing Top Performers who will deliver results in you business

This publication has been prepared exclusively for the information of clients and consultants of ARS Recruitment and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice. The owners and consultants of ARS Recruitment expressly disclaim all and any liability flowing from any act done or omitted to be done in reliance upon the whole or part of the contents of this newsletter