Attention grabbers in your job adverts will get more readers
If you were ever going to write a real job advert, probably the most critical element is the opening sentence.
Whenever someone clicks on a job ad, they’ll instinctively read the first line. This is your chance to motivate or intrigue them into wanting to keep reading.
First lines matter
Below are some examples of opening sentences from job ads I’ve been involved in over the past few years…
- “Are you comfortable with your sexuality?”
- “Health & Safety professionals are so negative, aren’t they?”
- “For every six people who apply for this job, one will experience a mental health problem this week.”
- “Here’s proof you’re not earning what you’re worth.”
- “Ever milked a cow, ridden a horse or fixed a barbed wire fence?”
- “What are you holding in your hand? If it’s not the TV remote, steering wheel, a computer mouse, a fork or a mobile phone then you’re either asleep or dead.”
- “You’re not really sure what you’re doing, are you?”
- “My English teacher used to tell me to avoid the word ‘nice’.”
When looking at new jobs, potential candidates are bombarded with job description after job description; all looking and sounding the same, and none of them standing out from the other.
And don’t forget that in most job disciplines, between 70-80% of the target candidate audience are already employed and that’s important because it significantly changes how they consume a job ad, compared to say someone who needs a job?
Which means if hiring the right people is important, then writing a job advert is important.
It’s especially important if it’s for a job that is specialised in some way In other words, if the majority of the target candidates are unlikely to be unemployed and/or be in short supply.
You need to sell these types of roles because;
- Most of these people won’t be desperate for another job.
- Many of them will be open to exploring a job that might improve their situation in some way.
Don’t describe the job, advertise it
And it all starts with that first line.
Need some help coming up with better ways to write job ads? Our recruitment copywriting courses will help.
If you would like more thoughts and musings on recruitment, you might want to download Mitch’s free book “On Recruitment”.
