Today’s job seekers are in high demand. As a result, their typical job search often involves wading through a sea of job postings – most of which don’t interest them or match their professional profile. This leaves a major opportunity for recruiters to reach the right candidates.

A carefully targeted job ad is a primary means for forging this first connection between company and candidate. Advancements in recruiting technology tools, such as programmatic recruitment and Unified Management, allow hiring teams to expand their audience relevance and reach. However, the content used in tandem with these tools is of the utmost importance for success, and its quality can easily make or break a campaign. 

In order for recruiters to connect with the right candidates, they must find a way to cut through the noise of competing or irrelevant job postings. Job seekers actively look for jobs by typing in a keyword on a job board. In return, they’re shown a list of relevant job ads. Job ad optimization is all about connecting with job seekers in this very moment.

Successful job ad content is crafted to 1) cater to the job seeker’s search intent and 2) appear in the search results.

The anatomy of a job ad

Job seekers simply don’t have the time or energy to dig around for information, so it’s important that a job ad speaks clearly to them on behalf of the hiring organization. The ideal job ad quickly and effectively communicates the most important details about a company and its open position.

The following components are typically included in a job ad:

Job title. A short name for the open position.

Job description. A general explanation of the employment role, required skills, expected job duties and – if desired – a salary range.

Company overview. A short description of the hiring company.

Location. Where the job takes place.

Call to action (CTA). The link or button a job seeker clicks to apply.

Destination URL. The landing page for the CTA (usually an application page).

Smart recruiters know that job postings require continuous optimization through data-driven, A/B testing. Each of the above elements should be crafted using proven best practices for job ads, which ensures that all test versions have a maximum chance for success.

Best practices for posting job ads

The end goal of a job ad is to convert job seekers into job applicants. By following these best practices and guidelines for job ad creation and testing, recruiters can maximize conversion rates and increase ROI.

Relevant titles. A good title is both searchable, informative and crafted based on data and insights. Careful examination of competitor job titles and keyword identification can help a title cut through the noise of a job feed. Recruiters should be sure to include industry-specific keywords, location-specific keywords and job title abbreviations.

Concise overviews. This is not only an important aspect of applicant conversion, but also a key opportunity to create strong employer branding. Job responsibilities should be short and appealing, while supplemental company information should present the hiring institution in its best light (e.g. job benefits, notable company milestones).

Realistic requirements. Setting too many expectations can scare off candidates who may actually be a good fit for the role. Including only the minimum relevant requirements in the job ad ensures that a wider pool of quality candidates get funneled into the application process.

Optimized landing pages. A job ad does not end when the candidate clicks the CTA. Landing pages for applications must function seamlessly within the application funnel, which begins with the job ad. A conversion-ready landing page contains intuitive and simple UX design with minimal steps required from the candidate. Because most job searches now happen on mobile, landing pages should, first and foremost, be optimized for mobile.

Tracking and analytics setup. Job ad optimization is only possible with proper tracking tools in place. A Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is a reliable recruitment solution that delivers comprehensive analytics functionality, so recruiters can continuously A/B test ads for performance.

Bonus: Timing considerations. There is no hard-and-fast rule here, so it’s up to recruiters to experiment with posting at various times per day, evaluating the results and implementing post schedules.

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About Spencer Parra

Spencer Parra is the VP of Product Management for advertising and data products at Radancy. In that capacity, Spencer and his team of product managers, program managers, data scientists, and data analysts work to develop products in a data driven mindset. As the leader of Advertising products, he works to bring a holistic full funnel approach to Radancy’s advertising technology stack with Programmatic Jobs at its foundation. Through data products, he tells the story of media performance via Radancy’s Metrics Gateway and helps ensure data is democratized through Radancy’s unified platform. Spencer came to Radancy from the Perengo acquisition in mid 2019 where he served as Lead Product Manager and a member of the founding team. With Perengo, he worked towards the vision of leveraging the same rigor and concepts from ecommerce advertising technology to the recruitment advertising space. Prior to Perengo, Spencer launched and supported in-app advertising products at Criteo as a solutions engineer. Spencer holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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