Writing a Job Advertisement

Job Analysis

In order to advertise a job, you first have to understand what that job entails (at least to best current knowledge, as jobs are often shifting in their scope). Job analysis is often done with the help of Industrial and Organizational (I-O) psychologists. There are two related but different approaches to job analysis—you may be familiar with the results of each as they often appear on the same job advertisement. The first approach is task-oriented and lists in detail the tasks that will be performed for the job. Each task is typically rated on scales for how frequently it is performed, how difficult it is, and how important it is to the job. The second approach is worker-oriented. This approach describes the characteristics required of the worker to successfully perform the job. This second approach has been called job specification (Dierdorff & Wilson, 2003). For job specification, the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that the job requires are identified.

Observation, surveys, and interviews are used to obtain the information required for both types of job analysis. It is possible to observe someone who is proficient in a position and analyze what skills are apparent. Another approach used is to interview people presently holding that position, their peers, and their supervisors to get a consensus of what they believe are the requirements of the job.

How accurate and reliable is a job analysis? Research suggests that it can depend on the nature of the descriptions and the source for the job analysis. For example, Dierdorff & Wilson (2003) found that job analyses developed from descriptions provided by people holding the job themselves were the least reliable; however, they did not study or speculate why this was the case

Employer Branding in Job Advertisements

As we previously discussed, employer branding is a key element in the recruitment process. In order to attract the best candidates, hiring managers need to clearly define their employment brand. Here are a few specific recommendations to help you do so:

• Clarify your corporate culture
• Understand your market position
• Set performance expectations
• Help candidates determine whether they would be a good fit before they even apply

Selling the Job

With the employer brand clarified and the job defined, we can move on to selling the job. What differentiates a compelling ad from one that isn’t noticed, or worse, rejected, is emotion. That is, in order to make a job advertisement compelling, you must make an emotional connection. Brand and Marketing Strategist Alex Honeysett’s recommendations for writing a compelling blog post also apply to writing a compelling job ad: “Now more than ever, people want to connect with brands in a human way.”^[1] And candidates are seeking that same humanity in potential employers. Her two key recommendations: share a story and write with a specific person in mind. The rationale for the latter point: “By writing with one person in mind, your tone, story, and message will be much more focused and detailed than if you’re writing to a nameless, faceless group of people. And your readers will connect to that focus and detail.”^[2]

The following nine-step job ad development process is a combination of Honeysett’s recommendations and Betterteam’s job posting template:^[3]

1. Write a compelling headline
2. Craft a compelling hook
3. Write with a specific person in mind
4. Pitch the position with emotion as well as the key facts
5. Tell the company’s story—and invite the candidate to be part of it
6. Sell the area
7. Summarize, selling the package
8. Close with a call to action
9. Have a member of the target audience read and comment

Recruitment Sources

What you’ll learn to do: Discuss recruiting sources

In an article for Forbes, human resources and HR technology analyst Josh Bersin observes that “Not only do companies have to deal with social sourcing, creating an employment brand (on a myriad of social websites), but the entire industry has become data driven and one of the fastest growing areas of AI.^[1] In this section, we will discuss sourcing and the impact of technology on the sourcing and recruiting process broadly.

Candidate Sourcing

Sourcing is the process of identifying, pre-screening and cultivating qualified candidates in order to meet current and anticipated future job openings. As is true of the recruiting process in general, having a clear understanding of who your ideal candidate is—a “specific person in mind”—will inform your choice of sourcing channels and improve sourcing effectiveness. That is, your choice of sourcing channels or methods will depend on who you want to reach.

Tapping into social media is essential, with Pew Research Center reporting that 72% of Americans are using social media for information, entertainment and to make and maintain connections.^[1] Pew’s Social Media Fact Sheet also notes that social media use has become more representative of the broader population; however, the use of specific social media platforms varies by age, gender and educational attainment. For example, college graduates are power users of YouTube (80% vs 73% total), Facebook (74% vs. 69% total), LinkedIn (51% vs. 27% total) and Twitter (32% vs. 22%). To highlight a few gender differences, a higher percentage of men than women use YouTube (78% vs. 68%) and LinkedIn (29% vs. 24%), with percentages similar on Twitter (24% vs 21%) and women’s use of Facebook higher (75% vs. 63%). One of the largest differences based on race is on LinkedIn, used by 28% of whites and 24% of blacks, but only 16% of Hispanics.

Employees should be an essential part of social recruiting. In Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, the authors state that “employee referrals tend to be more acceptable applicants, who are more likely to accept an offer and, once employed, have a higher job survival rate.”

Three caveats to be aware of with regards to employee referrals:

1. an employee might mistakenly assume job performance competence based on friendship;
2. employee referrals may lead to nepotism or hiring individuals who are related to persons already employed by the company
3. employee referrals may reinforce the status quo rather than advance a diversification objective.

For perspective on the social point, here are a few social recruiting statistics compiled by Todd Kunsman^[2]:

• 79% of job applicants use social media in their job search
• Job seekers rank social media and professional networks as the most useful job search resource compared to job boards, job ads, recruiting agencies, and recruiting events
• 73% of millennials found their last position through a social media platform
• 80% of employers say social recruiting helps them find passive candidates
• 91% of employers are currently using social media to hire talent
• Employers believe that social media marketing will be the most in-demand HR skills by 2020, followed by Data Analysis and Predictive Modeling

Old-school—face-to-face methods—work as well, serving to build the employer brand as well as a candidate pool. Participating in, partnering with or sponsoring college groups, community organizations and professional associations is an effective way to identify individuals with high-values skills or demographic profiles.