There’s a saying in recruitment: great job adverts attract great talent.
Writing an advert for your apprenticeship vacancies can be a time-consuming process, so it’s important that you get it right first-time and attract the right kinds of people straight away.
There’s a lot of competition for talent out there, so here are our top 3 tips for constructing the perfect job listing.
Keep it simple
The first thing you need to do is to keep your job advert as short and concise as possible.
There’s a lot to say when it comes to explaining a particular role, but it’s imperative that you find a way to simplify down your advert to its most core principles.
You should mention the skills required for the job, the salary and benefits, and where you can apply. Any other information should be carefully considered for it’s overall value to the advertisement.
If it’s not adding significant value, cut it out. (Or link out to further information on your career page or hub).
The rule of three
A good way to keep your adverts short and simple (and obey rule 1), is to use something called the ‘rule of three’.
This means condensing the entire job role down to 3 key qualities and focussing on these skills or attributes. Not only is this a great exercise for keeping job advert short, but it also helps you to better visualise your ideal candidates and the must-have skills they possess.
At apprentice level, any role should be applicable to the rule of three, so think about your needs for each position and start applying some priorities.
Neutral Language
Using neutral language is incredibly important in job advertisements.
Studies have shown that the type of language that is used in job adverts will have an adverse effect on the types of people who will apply for a particular role.
You must think very carefully about the traits and stereotypes you are conveying in the way you write, as they are usually a product of unconscious bias. That means we don’t even know we are doing them!
To quote Harvard Universities Gender Action Portal:
‘words such as competitive, dominant or leader are associated with male stereotypes, while words such as support, understand and interpersonal are associated with female stereotypes. Including gendered words in job advertisements could make the position seem less appealing to a certain gender, thereby limiting the applicant pool for these jobs.’
Bonus tip
OK. We know we said three tips, but this one is a bonus.
Be as open, honest and transparent as you possibly can in your job adverts. It will save you a lot of time in the entire recruitment process.
This rule applies from apprentices to executives and everywhere in between. People appreciate authenticity, and a simple thing like sharing the salary, can help you stand out as a progressive and fair employer from the get-go.
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