Job advertisements should gain you the best possible applicants for your vacant position. Don\'t waste money by paying for non-performing employment advertisements. Learn how to write job ads that will gain you the greatest number of top quality applicants from which to choose the high performing employee who will add profits to your business.

Online job advertising has now become the major avenue for recruitment of new employees. Nearly every candidate looks for jobs on the Internet first. Most jobs are now advertised solely on the Internet with many job seekers also searching solely online. It is also much cheaper to post your job advertisement online than in the traditional press. This means that you cannot disregard the Internet when seeking potential job applicants.

Online job forums are however different in both their delivery and format to traditional newspapers. Online job advertisements must therefore be different too in order to be successful. If your ad doesn\'t stand out and sell - your job for you, you wont attract the best applicants to your position and your business will suffer as a result.

This brings us to the first difference between an online ad and the hard copy version. Online job boards, just like search engine results, will show a job summary initially from where potential applicants can click through to the full advertisement. This job summary is the most important part of your whole ad. If it doesn\'t grab attention and compel the reader to click through to your full ad, then your race is lost before it begins.

Many people make the mistake of trying to use their job ad summary to ask for what they want in their candidate. This is a mistake. You are vying here with every single other ad for your potential applicant\'s attention. Ideally you are seeking the cream of the crop, not those who apply for any and all positions.

Use the job ad summary to sell the personal opportunity available, explain to the potential applicant what they can achieve. Then once you have enticed them in to read your full advertisement you can provide them with more detail about your organization and what you are offering before you then narrow your field by describing the skills and attributes you require of the successful applicant.

In the advertisement proper, you should include the following information.

• The opportunity - describe it in terms of the outcomes the position is to produce. Your potential employee is looking for what they can achieve in a position;
• The rewards provided – for a lower level position this may mean including the salary and other benefits you are offering, for a more senior position you may instead mention that the salary is negotiable depending on skills and experience. You will definitely want to include any opportunities for advancement or achievement of bonuses or commissions as these items are incentive for high achievers;
• Information about your business or organization – employees will want to know what sort of environment the position will be working within. You will lose potential applicants by not including this information;
• Your selection criteria – this is important for two reasons, both to ensure you receive applications from qualified applicants and also to direct your applicants to provide you with the information you require to assess them against in order that you may short list them for further more detailed selection processes.
• I also additionally recommend that as well as including the details of where they should forward their applications to that you should include a name and contact number of someone able to provide more information about the position and the organization if required.

It is important to understand that the more applications you receive, the better. There will always unfortunately be people who will apply unscrupulously for positions that they are not either qualified or competent of filling. Following proper selection processes will however enable you to screen these applicants out.

In summary, the secrets to writing top performing online job ads are to use the job summary to grab your potential applicants attention. Then in the full advertisement sell the opportunity, include the rewards available and information about the organization. Most importantly include your selection criteria and ask your applicants to address them. Then follow scientific selection procedures to assess the best new employee for your business.

About the Author

Tracey Bowyer is a recognized authority on the subject of employee recruitment and selection. Her website www.employee-selection-guide.com provides a wealth of information and articles on how to hire better and find the right employees for your business.