Optimising your Online Job Adverts

There is a new buzz word doing its rounds on the internet; Optimisation. To some this in fact is not all that new. Search engine optimisation is a concept that has been around since the birth of Google. SEO or search engine optimisation (optimization) essentially means to optimise content so that internet users are able to easily find your information using search engines such as the likes of Google.

To optimise your job advert means to write the job advert in such a way that Job Seekers, using online job portals are able to find your job ad with ease. An online job portal such as Jobs.co.za is considered to be a recruitment search engine. Job Seekers search for job vacancies using keywords to locate relevant job adverts. Recruiters similarly use job portals to search for suitable candidates.

Recruiters who are able to optimise their online job adverts stand a better chance of attracting relevant and accurate job applications. By optimising your job advert, you will reach the correct Job Seekers and receive more appropriate job applications. Read further to find out the basics of optimising your Job adverts and be the first to be found by quality candidates.

Optimising your Job Adverts from Title to Closing;

Job Title

The job title of an online job advert can be considered the deciding factor when finding quality candidates. Job titles come in all shapes and sizes but the most effective ones are those less likely to be practiced. A job title describes what the ad is about in one clear sentence. To optimise a regular title try to use the most commonly used terms know by industry. Be careful of getting too creative here. Optimising content means losing the fluffy pretty words and rather gets straight to the point. With this said is it safe to advise that a one word title isn't going to cut it either. Try to get your title to encompass the full realm of the job advert as opposed to leaving this open for interpretation. For example; Secretary vs. Junior bi lingual secretary required for auditing firm. The latter explains the skill level required (junior), language orientation (bi lingual), the job function (secretary) and the industry (auditing firm).

Job Function

A job function is very closely related to a job title. While it is not the same a title, the job function is the title of the role that prospecting candidates will search for. For example a chartered accountant is a job function, or an online content manager is a job function. A job function is quite literally the function of the role. So as not to get confused with the title and the job function let's look at the secretary example from above. A junior bi lingual secretary required for auditing firm, would make a great title for a job ad, however when explaining the job function, this is in fact the role of a secretary. People also get confused with the job function and the industry that the role fits into. Again, the function of the job is the role that a candidate will fill, the industry refers to that of the company and where they belong. While you can't really optimise a job function itself, the optimisation will occur as a result of accurately documenting the specific job function.

Job Description

Grasping the job title and the job function is one thing, but the real optimization will now take place.

The key to optimising any content for the internet is to identify the most relevant keywords. Generally, in a Recruiters case, your strongest keyword will more than likely be the job function (secretary). Try to use this keyword and variants of this keyword throughout the entire body of your job advert. The trick to optimising online job content is to deliver the most relevant information first and leave all other niceties out. Internet users respond to information that is easy to find, easy to understand and delivered in a concise and fast manner. Begin writing your job ad with the intention of delivering the most vital information first, not forgetting your keywords. You will feel as though you are repeating yourself but with efficient paraphrasing and synonym usage you will get into the swing of things very quickly. Remember that you aren't being marked or monitored on your job ads and should rather keep in mind that a job ad is a recruiting tool not a writers contest. An optimised piece of online content is straight to the point and includes bullets, hyphens and short sentences for fast delivery and 'skimmable' content.

To ensure the relevancy of received applications, your advantage lies in your fingertips. Remember that different mediums of advertising reach very different users. Job Seekers looking for vacancies in a newspaper respond differently to online adverts as they would to a printed ad. The better you understand your target audience (online Job Seekers) the easier it will be to attract and to find them using optimised job advertisements.