3 Ways Your Job Ad Is Confusing Applicants

You know how important it is to write a great job ad – it is an advertisement, after all – but when you post your job on an online job board, you may be inadvertently providing a confusing candidate experience and making job ad mistakes if you aren’t paying close attention to what you include.

The best job boards are invested in getting you the most qualified applicants, and therefore have designed their sites and candidate experience in a way that encourages responses. Work with these sites, not against them, and you can be confident your ad will be successful.

Not sure if you’re following job ad writing best practices? Here are three “don’ts” to avoid when writing your job ad for an online job board.

Job Ad Mistake #1: You’ve Included Contact Information in the Job Description

Having a way for candidates to contact you is important, but listing your phone number and/or email address in the ad’s description area can confuse people using a job board.

For instance, a job ad with an email address and phone number leaves candidates wondering, “Should I call if I want to apply? Should I send my resume to that email address, or apply as instructed on the job board?” Listing your contact info in the ad may make you susceptible to bots and spammers as well.

Job Ad Mistake #2: You’ve Included URLs in the Job Description

To get interested job seekers to finish their applications, don’t include links that take them to another site where they may get distracted and completely abandon the application process.

Additionally, when you use a job board like iHire and choose our internal apply option, you can manage all of your applications in one place. If job seekers complete the apply process elsewhere because you included a link, you’ll lose valuable tracking and insight. Or, they may apply in more than one place and further skew your metrics.

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Job Ad Mistake #3: You’ve Included Multiple and/or Conflicting Application Instructions

Applying for a job is no small task. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be by having multiple calls to action – or CTAs – in your ad. Take a page from a marketer’s playbook and include a single CTA to get the action you most desire: applications.

Great job ads include clear application instructions so job seekers know exactly what they need to do to be considered for the role. In fact, most online job boards will have prominent “Apply” buttons on their sites, so having specific instructions within your ad itself may be entirely unnecessary. For example, check out the candidate experience on iHire:

Bonus Tip – Always Preview Your Posting

When you use a job board, it’s critical to preview your posting to ensure what you’ve written makes sense in that particular job board’s candidate experience and will attract candidates. Consider where your contact information and company details are displayed, and understand that having this data in multiple places will likely work against you. Put yourself in job seekers’ shoes to be certain that your ad isn’t confusing potential hires or causing a negative experience.

Get more job ad writing advice in our Resource Center and self-paced job ad writing course, or explore our job posting solutions today to connect with qualified, career-driven candidates.