During my journey of searching for the right job, I have viewed dozens of job ads, for different job titles, descriptions, organizations, and I keep asking myself what these ads really mean, are they serious about their requirements? Do they even know what they want from the candidate? The common issue between most of these ads was vagueness.
A good job ad will directly capture job seekers’ attention, and in most cases will provide you with the right candidates. On the other hand, ambiguous and unclear ads would give a poor feedback about your organization, and you will lose a lot of time scanning irrelevant resumes.
I believe it’s hard to reach a unified format for job ads, but the following points may be considered of big importance for most of job ads.
A straightforward, specific and concise job title: This is the most important part in the job ad. Job seekers scanning job posts search for the relevant title for them, and they will probably forget about your ad if they didn’t find the main title in the first few words.
Level of experience: May be placed with the job title or as a separate point in the ad. Level of experience may vary according to your organization structure.
Required education, background, certificates: In this section you can highlight the required educational level, relevant background/related disciplines, and the certificates that may be needed to be qualified for the job.
General job description: This provides a summary for the job and the expected value added by the right candidate to the organization.
Job duties: A detailed description for the job’s main duties and responsibilities. Avoid general words and phrases in this section as it should be clear enough for the reader to determine whether he/she can fit to the job or not.
Required skills: Specify the required skills for the job, and classify them according to their importance; must have, preferable, and nice to have…
Reporting: Determine the hierarchy of reporting and supervision.
Compensation and benefits: Basic salary, incentives, allowances, and paid vacations.
A briefing about the organization and its website info: To help the job seeker gain information about the organization’s industry and culture, and decide whether it suits him/her.
Instructions / How to apply / Closing date: Provides instructions about how to apply to the job whether sending resume via email, visiting the company’s website to apply, filling online form…etc.
Job location / Job type / Employment type: Define job location, full-time, part-time, and freelance, permanent, contractual…etc.
In my opinion a lot of HRs overlook how powerful job ads are; it’s a kind of mirror that reflects how well-structured the organization is, and its capability of being precise about its goals and job needs.
By: Nancy Wahid
Photography: Mohamed Samir Hassan
EDITOR: Mennat-Allah Yasser Zohny