by A job advertisement is basically a paid announcement about a job opening or vacancy in a company or organization. It is one of the many components of a recruitment process, and considered to be one of the essential tools used by hiring managers, recruiters and human resource professionals in order to fill existing openings or needs for skills and manpower in organizations, companies and firms.
When you say “job adverts”, the first medium that will probably come to mind is the classified ads section of newspapers. But that is not the only place where you can find these job advertisements these days.
- Newspapers and publications with sections devoted entirely to job advertisements. Traditional and old-school recruitment processes still entail the publication of job adverts in publications of local and national circulation. There are even magazines that are specifically and purely targeted towards jobseekers and headhunters, and they are filled with job adverts.
- Online job boards and job sites. Thanks to the internet, the recruitment process now has a wider and more dynamic reach. Online job boards, job sites, and other forums that deal with connecting jobseekers with recruiters are also sure places to find job advertisements that cut across industries.
- Television and other audio-visual multimedia platforms. Job advertisements are also broadcasted over the television and radio, basically announcing that this or that organization is currently looking for someone to fill this or that position.
- Social media platforms. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn these are only a few of the many social media platforms where you can find job advertisements. Companies with strong social media presence often advertise their job openings in their social media accounts, and their followers are the first ones to know about them.
- Companies’ and organizations’ bulletin boards. Head over to the offices and headquarters of the companies, and they are likely to have a large space in their lobbies or reception areas that are filled with advertisements regarding vacancies and openings in their ranks.
The venue or medium where the adverts appear will vary, depending on several factors, mostly with respect to the size of the company and the nature of the organization, as well as its financial resources. Larger companies that can afford to spend on its recruitment processes may put out its job adverts in multiple platforms, while those who are on a tight budget may opt to pick just one or two.
The importance of job advertisements
Product advertisements have one goal: to attract consumers into buying the product or service. The same goes for job adverts, since they are designed to attract the suitable candidates for the open position being advertised.
How can an organization benefit from an effective job and recruitment advertisement? Let us count the ways.
- It will increase the chances that the candidates who will apply are suitable for the open position, meaning that the applicants have the skills, talents and competencies required specifically for the job being advertised. A poorly written job advertisement will lead to just about anyone applying for a job, even if they are not qualified for it. For example, a company that is looking for an engineer may find itself pelted with application submissions from people with zero background and knowledge in engineering.
- It reduces the time spent by recruiters and hiring managers going through applications of unsuitable applicants. In the previous example, they would not waste time sifting through the resumes of people with medical backgrounds, because the job advertisement precisely stated that the company needs an engineer. And it is not just the time spent in the preliminary screening that will be saved, because they will also save time on the rest of the recruitment process. Imagine a hiring manager realizing only during the interview process that the person has no knowledge whatsoever about production engineering processes. That means he just wasted time on that applicant, when it could have been spent on other, more qualified prospects.
- It improves the quality of staffing of the company. A company’s growth is not just reflected by the numbers, or how much profit it made during its several years of operation. Even the quality of manpower will also be indicative of its growth. Many companies have gained repute for having a structure that is staffed by quality people, with brilliant minds, talents and skills. Another result of this is that qualified candidates will be keeping their eyes on the company, in case it has job openings in the future. The company will then have less trouble attracting the top candidates for its open positions.
Types of Job Advertisements
Job adverts, just like product and service adverts, also come in different “shapes and sizes”, in order to attract more potential applicants. There are two main forms or types of job advertisements:
Display advertisements
These advertisements are designed to be displayed and to grab attention at first glance. It makes use of bold headlines and a generous amount of photographs, illustrations and other graphics. Thus, they are usually prepared with the help of graphic ad designers.
In display advertisements, size matters, and so does creativity. The adverts can come in various sizes, and the general principle is “the bigger, the better”. Of course, those with limited budget may settle for adverts the size of a small box, while those with more money to spend may pay for job adverts that will be run on full pages of newspapers or magazines. Those who have even more money to spend could even run their advert in two pages, making it a full-spread job advertisement.
Classified advertisements
Compared to display advertisements, classified advertisements are simpler and much more straightforward. Think of an entire page filled with job advertisements that, at first glance, essentially look the same. There is a general heading indicating a job category, and under that category will be the job advertisements, which are usually composed of a heading and text relevant to the job being advertised.
There is often no room for the company advertising the open position to exercise its creativity in this type of advertisement, and neither does it have the freedom to style it in a way that is sure to grab the attention of jobseekers perusing that page.
Basic elements of job adverts
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a job advert is effective if it reflects the role that the selected applicant or candidate will perform once he is hired by the company, as well as the expectations of the employer regarding his performance.
Various literature and sources have quoted the basic elements of a successful job posting or advertisement, listing varying numbers of these elements. Some compressed the basic elements into five, namely:
- Information about the job opening or vacancy: This includes the duties and responsibilities of the position or job opening that the organization aims to fill.
- Candidate profile: This is an outline of the education, experience, skills and other requirements of the open position.
- Company information: This provides potential applicants an insight into the working environment.
- Employee benefits: This includes the salary range and other benefits that the employee who will be chosen for the job will receive once he is employed and performing.
- The application process: This basically provides instruction on how the applicants will apply, and where they will send in their application letters and resumes.
