Are job adverts all the same?

Here’s a story about the difference between a generic job advert, and a successful job advert.

A well-respected recruitment agency had many job adverts running.

Their adverts are the typical style that seems to have caught on, you know, take the Job Description, open with as statement along the lines "My client is a <insert_impressive_description>", add a sprinkling of adjectives, and change some words to hide the identity of their client.

Very little in the advert, if anything, actually talks to the reader about why this job is better than what they do now and worth taking a risk for.

'Candidate A', (let's call them Bob), saw one of their adverts.

After 7 years, things are getting a bit stale in his current job, so Bob is thinking about a change.

But Bob didn’t apply. He has a stable job where he is respected and secure, and not only did what he read not inspire him, it offered no appealing insight into why he might find this new job better than his current one.

Fast forward 3 weeks.

The same hiring company engaged my services to help make this hire.

After a detailed briefing on-site, I crafted a bespoke and engaging advert, plus other marketing and briefing material.

Bob saw my advert and called me up from his desk

 - he was genuinely excited about the job advert he had just read as it described an opportunity that fixed most of the problems and niggles he has with his current job.

We establish that this opportunity matches his ambitions, and that he is a suitable candidate.

So I sent Bob the original, full job description, and the employer briefing material that I'd created.

Bob called back to tell me he "saw this job advertised 3 weeks ago", he recognised the job description.

He didn’t apply because that advert made the job sound “dull and no better than my current job”.

We agree that I'll send his CV.

.

.

.

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Guess who got the job offer.

This client missed out on hiring this candidate the first time around because the recruiters they were using posted an uninspiring, uninteresting job advert.

How many good people have you not met due to poor quality adverts and messaging?