by Rachel Smith
08 July 2016
What makes a job ad great? It’s a hard one. Reading our jobs board, some totally nail it with the right tone, selling even tricky roles with aplomb and finesse. Other job ads struggle. We know first hand that writing a great job ad isn’t as easy as it seems. So we’ve asked our job-seekers – those in the trenches – what they want to see in an ad. The kind of ads that make you want to go back to, read again and apply for.
Here are their thoughts!
“If it’s a 50-hour working week or you need a hard worker, fine. But be truthful rather than pulling a swifty just to get people to apply. Often I’m finding as a journalist I have to use all my skills just to figure out what’s actually involved in the role. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve gone to an interview and been told, ‘oh, we don’t actually have a sub and won’t be getting one, so you’ll be doing that too – hope you don’t mind’. Well, yes, I very much mind doing a whole other job on top of my own, and why didn’t you tell me that before I came in?” – K, senior editor.
“Do employees get time off in lieu, or tickets to free events? The chance to review restaurants or go on famils occasionally? Is there a rock-solid work/life balance philosophy in place so no one is working crazy hours? If so, mention it in the job ad. There aren’t many perks in media these days; not like there used to be. And I know if a salary is a little low, but the perks are really good, I definitely factor that into my salary.” – L, journalist
“I’ve found that smaller publishers might mention the company specialises in this or that but they won’t mention the titles you’ll be working on, or the brands you’ll be working for, for example. People want to work for a brand or a title, they want to feel like they can make their mark on a product or publication so that kind of openness is important.” T, comms consultant
“There are so many top journos out there who’d love a chance to job-share or do a 3-day-a-week role. If you’re flexible about these things, you’re so much more likely to get great applicants. Also, if you trust people to do a good job and work from home all or part of the time, mention that as well. It’s a huge drawcard for many who work more effectively without office distractions or the need to battle 1-2 hours on public transport daily.” – R, senior journalist
“So many job ads don’t mention either and to be honest, if I don’t have any idea what kind of range you’re paying or whether super is included / not included, sometimes it’s just not worth the time applying to wheedle those things out of the employer. Super is especially important and whether it’s included or on top of the package. If it’s included in the package, you’re effectively looking at a $9-10k drop in salary and that’s a total turn-off.” – H, senior journalist
“I find so many media job ads these days try to shoehorn three jobs into the one role, offer really low money and have a tone of ‘this is the job, be grateful for it’. But what many job-posters don’t realise is that people are sick of being used and abused and working ridiculous hours for no money. We know it’s tough out there, we get it, but if there’s little in the role for me and really low money, I’d probably rather leave the industry than take a crap job. I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.” – J, feature writer
“Smart employers realise you’ll probably move on after a couple of years, but sell the role with the value it can offer the job-seeker. If you’re saying, ‘Yep, you’ll work your butt off but when you move on you’ll be an expert in branding / social media / SEO / content strategy’ that’s enough to make me sit up and take notice, especially in the ever-changing market. If you have to take a $10k paycut but you know you’ll be ahead from everyone else at the end of it and probably able to walk into another, higher paying role with a heap of new skills – well, that’s attractive to a lot of people.” – B, editor
“So many older people just don’t have a heap of digital skills and they’re embarrassed about it. They could probably do the job standing on their head but they’re put off from applying because the requirements say you must have X, Y or Z and they don’t have one or two of those things. These are people who may be top-notch writers or editors but who have worked in print for years and are just edging into digital. So to widen the pool, don’t make everything absolutes. Consider having an ‘essentials’ AND a ‘nice to have’ list on your job ad and offer even basic training. It’s sad that so many people who could be up and running on Mailchimp or a CMS within an afternoon but are too nervous to apply for a job not having those skills because they think they’re dealbreakers.” – W, business writer
Are there any other things that make a job ad attractive to you? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
