Getting a hundred unsuitable applicants for your company’s vacancies is almost as challenging as getting none at all.
Investing in apprenticeships means funding the future prosperity of your business, but you can only get the best return on this investment by finding the perfect candidates.
Attracting top talent is harder than ever in the competitive jobseekers’ market, and it begins with a well-crafted apprenticeship job advert. After all, an apprenticeship is a two-way street – just as you’re trying to fill the role, they also need to find the right fit.
In this article, we’ll review twelve strategies for crafting an impactful apprenticeship job advert and tips for how you can reach more prospective apprentices with your words.
12 essentials to include in an apprenticeship job advert
Use these twelve steps as guidance when producing job adverts for the next intake of apprentices.
- Straightforward, clear job title: ‘Integration Specialist’ or ‘Solutions Architect’ might make sense to your internal team, but applicants aren’t interested in jobs they can’t easily understand. To increase relevant applicants, Use a title that clearly states the role and is universally understood.
- No jargon: Remember that the goal of an apprenticeship is to provide applicants with new knowledge rather than expecting them to have advanced skills on the starting block. Therefore, it’s more appealing to avoid industry-specific jargon or technical terms that won’t alienate those at the start of their career journey.
- Inclusive and accessible: Every business should prioritise welcoming applicants from all backgrounds. Use inclusive language that doesn’t discriminate between demographics, and if the role is disability confident ensure the advert is accessible (such as proper formatting for screen readers, alt text for images, font sizes and colour contrast).
- Engaging hook: One of your biggest challenges is ensuring the apprenticeship job advert stands out amongst the swarm of competitor positions. It all comes down to the hook; start with a compelling sentence or two that grabs the reader’s attention. E.g., ‘Imagine waking up every day knowing your work is making a real difference.’
- Discuss your company: An apprenticeship is a two-way street – the learner should benefit from the opportunity as much as your company. Just as you’ll ask apprentices to talk about their experience, goals and qualifications, it’s essential to provide insight into your business’ values, culture, and work environment. Start with a few sentences explaining what makes your company a genuinely great place to work and what you can offer the learner.
- Aligns with your brand: If you have established marketing operations, you should ensure the apprenticeship job advert aligns with your brand’s style and messaging (your ’employer brand’). For example, you could highlight your value proposition or create dedicated webpages for apprenticeships.
- Use active language: This is one of the simpler yet most effective tips. Using active language makes the apprenticeship job advert easier to read and more impactful. You can make straightforward switches using verbs and an active voice; for example, swapping phrases like ‘you will be responsible for…’ for ‘responsibilities include…’.
- Test AI: Don’t have a dedicated HR, recruitment or marketing team? You could try using an AI tool like Gemini or ChatGPT to write the job advert. Simply provide the prompt (aka. the instruction) plus details about the job advert and your company – excluding confidential information, of course. You can use this as a starting point to really refine your job advert for the perfect candidate.
- Clearly explain tasks: Potential apprentices want to know how they’ll be spending their time, so this isn’t the time to be vague. Be transparent about the structure of the apprenticeship by explaining the balance between on-the-job training and classroom learning. Ideally, you can go deeper and provide information about which departments they’ll be working in and the types of projects they might encounter.
- List realistic requirements: You’ll likely have a clear idea about which qualifications, skills, and experience candidates will need to succeed. It’s good practice to separate ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves,’ which means you won’t alienate potential excellent apprentices who don’t have all the puzzle pieces.
- Fill in the blanks: Every detail of the apprenticeship should be covered in the job advert: location, working hours, remote/on-site split, equipment provided, management structure, team size, etc. The goal is to give new starters a comprehensive understanding of the role, and the more information you provide now, the less time you’ll need to spend answering questions.
- Include the salary: It’s still not common for employers in the UK to include the salary on job adverts, but apprenticeships are helping to buck this trend. In the UK, apprenticeship vacancies advertised through the government’s Find an Apprenticeship service are required to include specific salary details; using terms like “competitive salary” without stating an actual figure is generally not permitted. When advertising via a 3rd party, it is not required to include the salary, but still highly encouraged. Including the salary proves to apprentices that you value their contribution and helps avoid any awkward (and unnecessary) conversations later down the line.
Where to advertise an apprenticeship job advert
Advertising the apprenticeship job advert is as important as crafting the post itself. Start with:
- Apprenticeship websites: Advertise on sites like Best Apprenticeships to ensure your posting receives traffic and attention from a large pool of relevant candidates.
- Job boards: Indeed, LinkedIn and Reed are the first port of call for potential applicants. You also have the option to pay for promotion and sponsored content to give your posting a boost.
- Company channels: Post the apprenticeship on your company’s website and social media pages. It’s also a good idea to set up a dedicated webpage for apprenticeship opportunities to showcase the work your business does in this domain.
- Schools, colleges and training providers: Depending on your target audience, you can advertise at careers fairs, collaborate with apprenticeship training providers and get in touch with local news publications.
Thousands of potential apprentices are within reach
If crafting a detailed and engaging job advert is stage one, then stage two is getting the advert in front of the right candidates. It’s important not to undervalue advertising on sites like Best Apprenticeships, which provides you with a viable platform to reach a high-quality audience.
Get in touch to partner with Best Apprenticeships on your next advert and ensure investment in new talent goes further.
