Mastering Job Adverts in the AI Era
Job adverts remain the heartbeat of recruitment. Whether you’re in-house or at an agency, once you receive a job requirement, the natural first step is to get the role out there.
Simple? But doing it well requires strategy, insight, and now, smart AI tools.
Understand the role
You can’t create a compelling job advert without truly understanding the role. More often than not, the person writing the advert will also be screening applicants, making it essential to grasp the responsibilities, skills, and nuances of the position. Ask the hiring manager targeted questions to clarify technical requirements.
Candidates get frustrated with job ads full of recruiter jargon and hollow buzzwords. Keep your language clear and honest, especially when detailing technical skills or requirements.
Today, reaching the right candidates requires precision targeting. Posting a specialist role on a specialist job board, for example, is far more effective than placing it in the local newspaper. Conversely, a local retail role may require community-focused platforms or social media targeting.
AI-driven analytics can help identify the channels where your ideal candidates are most active and even optimise your ad content to maximise engagement.
Don’t just copy & paste the job description
Hiring takes time and generic job adverts are a missed opportunity. If your advert fails to hit the mark, you will lose candidates before they even hit “apply.”
Personalise your job ads with attention to tone, clarity (what you want), and your company culture, and remember it’s an advert not a job description!
AI tools can help by analysing successful postings and suggesting ways to make your advert resonate with the right audience, so you get the buy in from the first paragraph.
Grammar and clarity matter
Poor grammar or spelling is a major turn-off. AI writing assistants or built-in grammar tools to proofread your content and maintain professionalism can help, but beware the Americanizms! Polished adverts not only attract better candidates, they reinforce your credibility as well.
Answer questions before they’re asked
Save time for both you and your candidates by providing the essentials upfront:
The easier you make it for candidates to understand what it is you are looking for and why they should make you their number one choice, the higher your quality and quantity of applications.
The summary and the pitfall
Recruitment has evolved, and job adverts must evolve too. Understanding the role, knowing your audience, personalising content, maintaining clarity, and leveraging AI will help you create job ads that attract the right candidates.
But beware the truly AI-written ad is quickly spotted and might be as quickly dismissed as automated flannel. So, whilst AI has a part to play, a well-crafted ad should come from the heart with a little bit of help from your AI friend.
A well-written one could attract dozens of candidates, meaning time has to be allocated to sift through the CVs, reject, select, and provide feedback. If you haven’t got the time needed to get the best from a recruitment campaign, then perhaps you should consider outsourcing the process to a professional who can.
