Writing a job advert: the things nobody usually includes

There are certain things you expect to find in a job advert...

Job title. Salary, hopefully. Hours. Responsibilities. Experience required. Benefits. Maybe a paragraph about the company and, somewhere towards the end, the inevitable promise of a "friendly team".

All useful information. But does any of it really tell someone what it's going to be like to work for you?

I was talking about this on Park Radio recently and it struck me how often the things candidates really want to know are the things nobody thinks to put in the advert.

And, perhaps more importantly, they're often the things that determine whether someone joins you and whether they stay.

Writing a job advert? Start with why the job is available

It's such a simple piece of information, but it gives a candidate an enormous amount of context.

Are you growing? Has somebody been promoted? Has someone retired after 15 years? Or are you replacing somebody who discovered fairly quickly that the role wasn't right for them?

There isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer.

But there should be an honest one.

Understanding why you're recruiting helps somebody picture the role they're potentially walking into. It also gives you an opportunity to tell part of the story behind the vacancy, rather than simply presenting a list of things you need somebody to do.

What's the manager actually like?

"Reporting to the Operations Director."

Fine. But what's the Operations Director like to work for?

Are they hands on? Do they give people plenty of autonomy? Do they like regular updates? How do they communicate? How do they give feedback? What sort of person tends to work particularly well with them?

These aren't insignificant details.

You can offer somebody a role that looks absolutely right on paper, but if the working relationship isn't right, it can very quickly become the wrong job.

The same applies to the team.

Rather than simply describing it as "friendly", tell people something useful. How many people are in it? How long have they been there? Do they work collaboratively or fairly independently? What is the atmosphere actually like?

After all, these are the people your new recruit is going to spend a fairly sizeable chunk of their week with.

What happens when somebody gets something wrong?

This might be one of my favourite questions about workplace culture.

Every business makes mistakes because every business employs human beings.

The interesting bit is what happens next.

Is it a case of working out what went wrong, sorting it out and learning from it? Or does everybody suddenly become very interested in their shoes?

You can write "supportive culture" in an advert, but how you respond when something goes wrong probably tells a candidate far more about what your culture is really like.

What do the hours really look like?

If the advert says 9am - 5pm, is that genuinely when people work?

Does everybody pack up at five without a second thought? Is staying late occasionally genuinely occasional? Is there an unspoken expectation that people keep an eye on emails in the evening?

And then there's "flexible working".

Flexible how?

It's become such a broad phrase that it can mean completely different things from one employer to another. If you offer flexibility, explain what that looks like in practice.

The clearer you are before somebody joins, the less chance there is of a mismatch afterwards.

Why do your people stay?

We talk a lot about staff turnover in recruitment, but I think the opposite question can sometimes be much more revealing.

Who has been with you for years?

And why?

Perhaps it's the manager. Maybe people genuinely enjoy working together. Perhaps there's flexibility that makes their life easier, they feel trusted, the work is interesting or they simply feel appreciated.

If you're an employer, it's worth finding out.

Because the reasons your good people stay may also be some of the best reasons for somebody new to join you.

And what does "career progression" actually mean?

It's another phrase that appears in countless job adverts.

But progression to what?

If someone has genuinely progressed through your business, tell that story. It makes the opportunity tangible.

And remember that progression doesn't have to mean management.

Some people want to lead teams. Others want to become exceptionally good at what they do, develop their knowledge, take more ownership or become the person everyone turns to when something complicated lands on the desk.

Both can be valuable.

Of course, employers have questions too

This isn't entirely one sided.

There are plenty of things a CV doesn't tell an employer either.

Why is someone really looking to leave? What are they hoping will be different in their next job? What sort of manager gets the best from them? What frustrates them? What matters besides salary? What would make them want to stay somewhere for several years?

And perhaps the slightly uncomfortable one: what might make them leave again?

These are the conversations that help both sides understand whether the opportunity really fits.

A job advert can't tell the whole story

Nor should it.

Nobody wants to read War and Peace with a salary band attached.

But when you're writing a job advert, it's worth thinking beyond the standard list of responsibilities and requirements.

What would you want to know if you were considering spending the next few years of your working life there?

A good advert starts the conversation. A good recruitment process fills in the gaps.

The employer is ultimately asking, "Can I see this person working here?"

The candidate is asking, "Can I see myself working here?"

Both questions matter.

And the more honestly they're answered before somebody starts, the better chance there is of getting the hire right.

If you're recruiting and want help telling the real story behind your vacancy, rather than simply advertising a list of duties, get in touch with Michelle Denny Recruitment. We can help you work out what candidates need to know and find the people who'll genuinely fit your business.