Job advertisements should be created in order to attract the best talent, not only to get rid of unqualified candidates. That is the opinion of the columnist Lou Adler, an American expert on top talent recruitment. In his recent article on LinkedIn he says: "I’m still dumbfounded why this simple idea is so hard to understand by those who continue to post these same boring job descriptions year after year after year."
In an example, he googled job offers from Silicon Valley companies looking for Python, Ruby or Java programmers. In the more than 600,000 results, all the postings were dull and uninspiring. Potential employees with real talent would only apply to them if they were really desperate.
Do you know Marketing 101?
The Silicon Valley job ads mostly began with a general statement such as: "We are looking for enthusiastic, talented programmers who are not afraid of hard work and have experience in creating innovative applications." After that, there was a list of requirements including years of experience with programming using specific languages, ability to work on different operating systems, ability to debug the code, or strong communication skills.
Lou Adler is convinced this type of job advertisements can't attract the best candidates. Every recruiter who thinks otherwise should take a basic course in marketing to learn a few simple rules, such as:
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Your product can't grab consumers' attention without a good name and a compelling description.
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Products should be offered by describing their benefits, not technical parameters.
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You must know your target customer. Advertising makes sense only where your customer can see it.
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You have only 10 seconds to convince your potential customer to read the entire ad. You must know how to use pictures, stories and calls to action.
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It must be as simple as possible for your potential customer to find more information.
Apply Marketing 101 in recruitment
When creating job ads, basic marketing rules can be applied in the following ways.
1. Create an original job title
Do not be afraid to stand out from similar offers. The job title is the first thing people will read. If a company in showbiz is looking for an accountant, why not call the job an "Oscar-winning Accountant"? Imagination has no limits (at least within your corporate culture).
2. Emphasize the basic motivation for job applicants right in the first line
Adler cites the introductory phrase from the job ad of a construction company that looked for a cost analyst: "You Give a Whole New Meaning to the Word Meticulous".
3. Describe what the employee you are looking for will do and learn
Name the two or three most important goals the employee should meet and specify how these goals relate to the overall strategy or an individual initiative of the company. Replace the traditional list of skills and experience by describing the actual work and its outcomes. Tell a story. A sample job ad trying to find a Human Resources Director written directly by Lou Adler is available here . Note that no skills or experience are mentioned.
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