There's all kinds of research out there that employees want to work for companies that share their values and support their lives.
That's why your job ad copy should of course include the usual suspects -- general responsibilities, specific tasks and projects, salary, comp & benes, hours and place of work -- alongside a brief overview of your organization’s culture and values. It also should include:
Job ad writing tip #1: Revisit your requirements.
So many times, requirements are cut-and-pasted from a previous job description or added because "everyone else does. We can do better. Let's make sure our required credentials, skills and experience are reasonable and relevant requirements. Licensures? Sure, those make sense for a lot of jobs. An MBA or advanced degree? Someone with commensurate experience could probably do the job, too. Make sure you need those requirements – and that they’re not unnecessarily creating barriers that keep talented people from consideration. Changing the way you approach requirements may increase the number of candidates who apply and uncover talent you would have missed otherwise. At the very least, it makes you a more accountable organization.
Your to-do: Ask "why" for each requirement. And if you want something because you want it, be transparent about that.
Want ad writing tip #2: Publish pay scales.
Putting the pay scale in an ad is still pretty unusual, but happily more and more organizations are doing it. Top talent can afford to skip over employers who don't share this info in favor of the increasing number who do. Putting wage and salary info out there helps prospects know if the position is worth going for based on their economic realities, and conveys a sense of trustworthiness and accountability that candidates are looking for. It also makes you a more accountable employer and can counteract forces of implicit bias that often result in women and BIPOC being paid less than their white male counterparts. This is where the regulatory world is heading (see recent headlines out of New York, for example). Might as well get ahead in the game.
Your to-do: Publish pay scales in your want-ads. Bonus action item: consider including non-cash benefits, too!
Follow this advice to create more competitive ads that attract the best candidates for the job.
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