Not getting enough candidate applications for a job you have advertised can be extremely frustrating. Likewise, getting a ton of responses from the wrong candidates can also prove difficult. If you are doing your own recruitment in-house or engaging the services of an external recruitment agency, there are some important checks to do before you advertise:

Pay attention to the job title
When writing the title for a job, it’s important to ensure that is it specific enough to turn up in search results. Some people focus on making a job title stand out from others by writing having a show stopping title like ‘Superstar’ or ‘All-Rounder’, but this might mean that these jobs don’t show up if someone searches for them using a search engine such as Google. It’s important to consider that a job title is optimised from a Google search point of view and therefore has the best opportunity to appear in search results.

Ensure no key components are missing from the job ad
Ensure that your job ad includes the essential and desirable qualifications and skills to complete the role. The reason? Candidates need to feel comfortable that they know enough about the job before they decide to put the effort into an application. Additionally? An important part of the application process involves candidates comparing their skills and experience to the job requirements and then deciding if their own profile is strong enough to apply.

Is this a legitimate job?
Unfortunately, many jobs advertised as genuine are in fact scams. These advertisements can be lacking in detail or promise high remuneration for minimal effort. The job adverts might also refer to an ‘opportunity’ without specifying what it is. What can we, as job posters, learn from this? Many candidates are (thankfully) wary of non-genuine job advertisements. In order to distinguish your job from non-genuine ones, it’s important to include detail relating to the tasks of the job and the length of time the company has been operating to increase credibility in the eyes of the candidates. It is also a good idea to include your company logo if possible.

Will this job challenge me?
Most candidates think long-term when they are applying for jobs and need to know that they are comfortable that they can meet the requirements of the role in the short term but have adequate opportunity to strengthen and develop their skills through different opportunities in the long term. To ensure that your potential new employees know that they will be challenged, include references to stretch opportunities in the job advertisement.

Does the company culture suit me?
Candidates want to feel that they will be joining an employer where they will be happy. Ensuring that your company culture is strong and positive is a great way to increase candidate applications and increase the tenure of your existing employees. References to the importance of a positive company culture should be included in the job advertisement and on the company website.

If you feel your business requires support with certain aspects of the recruitment process, Flexi Personnel offer Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) where we can manage all or certain aspects of the recruitment process for you (such as writing and placing a job advertisement).