Job ads are a dime a dozen. You need to stand out from the crowd and attract the attention of the talents you want. Targeting your audience plays a key role, as does specifying key elements such as the job description or requirements profile.
Even small changes can have a big impact on traceability and performance. Get the most out of your job ads with our pro tips.
Preparation is half the battle
Is your own career page still relevant?
Although social media and job boards have become increasingly important in recent years, the career page on your own company website is still very relevant. You should therefore link your career page to the job ad.
Place the link to your career page on the homepage of your website and make sure it is linked to the tool you are using for your recruitment. For example, to onlyfy Application Manager. This will make the application process easier for your talents.
How authentic is your corporate image?
Talented people are not just looking for a new job, they are looking for a company they can feel good about and identify with. Answer the following questions honestly and adapt your corporate image accordingly:
- How do you define yourself as a company?
- Which values are important to you?
- How would you describe your corporate culture?
- What kind of personalities are the best fit for your company?
- Why do your employees enjoy working for you?
Use the answers to create a company description for your job ads. For many talents, the company profile is important in addition to the job and requirements profile, as it gives them an insight into the company. This helps them decide whether the company and its values are a good match for the talent.
Do not use empty phrases such as ´dynamic´, ´innovative´ or ´traditional´. Instead, describe what exactly these terms mean and how you put them into practice on a daily basis.
Strengthen your online presence with a high-reach Employer Branding Profile on kununu and XING. Both will help you build, extend and optimize your employer brand. Plus, kununu provides relevant insights through reviews.
Who are your target audiences?
Take a close look at your target audiences to find out how you can most effectively reach your talents. Personas can help you do this. Personas represent a group of people with specific characteristics and user behavior.
Audience analysis not only helps you find the right channels for your job ads. It will also help you to use language and design that is appropriate to your target audience.
Tips & tricks for creating powerful job ads
A clear structure will help you find the right talents and meet the requirements of job boards. The following elements should be part of your job ads:
- Job title
- Job description
- Requirement profile
- Company profile
- Information about the application process
Attract talents with the right job title
- Recommended length: 30 - 100 signs
The title of a job ad is one of the most important factors in making it easy to find.
It is important to use commonly accepted job titles that are specific and concise.
When writing your title, think about what keywords potential candidates would use to search for relevant jobs. Tools such as Google Trends can help. Choosing the right title can have a significant impact on whether your ad is found and clicked on by your target audience.
More tips:
- The title may be longer if it contains information that highlights a unique benefit or special requirement.
Marketing Manager·in (m/w/d) mit PR-Schwerpunkt
- Avoid abbreviations or use only commonly recognized abbreviations such as "SAP" or "CNC".
Stv. Produktionsleiter
- Use capital letters and special characters sparingly, otherwise the title can easily become confusing.
- Please ensure that you use gender-neutral language and comply with the laws of your country.
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Do you have a unique benefit? Include it in the job title to attract interest in your talents.
Inspire with concrete job descriptions
Be as specific as possible in your job description and avoid empty phrases. The more precise your details are, the higher the quality of the applications. The fields in the ´Basic Information´ section, which you will need to fill in for your XING Job Ads, will also help you with this.
- Do you offer remote work? If so, check this option as well so that talents looking for it can see it at a glance. Enabling this option will also allow job search engines (e. g. Google for Jobs) to read this information and display it in their search results.
- Salary information may vary from country to country. In Austria, companies are required by law to provide salary information. Even if this is not mandatory in your country, please note that statements such as "attractive salary" or "performance-related salary" can always be interpreted subjectively and are therefore not meaningful. Providing at least a salary range helps talented people to find their way around, shows transparency in the organisation and also leads to lower recruitment efforts.
- Benefits are important because they make your company more attractive. List the specific benefits you offer your employees, such as childcare, transport allowance, company bike, dogs welcome.
Create compelling job profiles
It is important to list all the skills, trainings and certifications required for the position in order to create a comprehensive job profile for the job. In addition to the title, the text of the ad and the keywords (skills) are the most important factors in ensuring that your ad is easily found by your target audience.
In addition to the minimum requirements, it is advisable to list qualifications that are considered "nice-to-have" but not essential. It is important to make a clear distinction between minimum requirements and desirable qualifications. We recommend that you list the requirements in descending order of priority.
More tips:
- XING users receive job recommendations based on their own profile. You can influence these recommendations by specifying meaningful requirements and skills.
- With XING Job Ads you have the option to specify 10 skills to get better results in searches and recommendations. Read our article "Create and publish XING Job Ads" to find out how to select skills for your job ads.
- Use concise language! When listing, make sure that the description is no longer than two lines.
No application jungle, just short distances
Make the application process as easy as possible by considering the following points:
- Ask yourself which documents you really need from candidates. Is a covering letter or letter of motivation still necessary or is the CV sufficient?
- Do you need copies of certificates at the start of the application or is a copy at a later date enough?
- Try a new way of applying! With XING Instant Apply, talented people can apply to you with just 2 clicks. Furthermore, the application is automatically sent. Read our article "Create and publish XING Job Ads" to find out how to activate the XING Instant Apply for your XING Job Ads.
- Always provide the name and contact details of the responsible contact person for any queries. This not only adds a personal touch to your ad, but also prevents you from losing talents or unnecessarily prolonging the application process.
Emphasize your message through design and language
Images and videos often automatically attract the attention of talents, as most people are visually inclined. Use images to liven up your job ads and showcase your company. Don't use stock images, show your employees in everyday life.
Do you have a younger target audience? You can use emojis in your job ads.
As with the design, the language should reflect your corporate values. Are you on a first-name basis within the company? Then you can also use this form in your job ads. Just stay authentic.
Do you want to quickly and attractively design the text for your XING Job ads? Our new feature, the AI Assistant, will help you. Read more in our article "Use AI to create job descriptions".
Methods to influence the visibility of your job ads
The variety of job boards and social media channels has increased dramatically in recent years. As a result, there are a number of ways to increase the visibility of your job ads.
- XING Job Ads are displayed automatically and data-driven using Programmatic Job Advertising. Please note that prioritization varies depending on the price plan: Compared to XING Job Ads Core, the Pro and Ultimate packages are prioritized for display on XING and kununu.
- Do you have an Employer Branding Profile? Connect kununu to your XING company profile.
- Did you know that your paid XING Job Ads are displayed directly on kununu?
- As mentioned above, job title and keywords (skills) increase the searchability of your job ads.
- Also important are the terms talents are searching for, such as industry, job level, job category.
- Analyse the market and improve your visibility through SEO optimization. Tools such as Google Analytics or Google Trends can help.
- Get your employees involved in the search. Personal recommendations are often more credible because employees know the company and, in some cases, also the job.
- Put yourself in your talent's shoes. Find your own job ad and apply for it. What were your experiences? How does the ad or the application process affect you?
Looking for more inspiration?
Do some research on the internet about how companies in your branch design their job ads. We will help you!
- Are you familiar with the Employer Branding Check? Besides a self-test, you will find competitive comparison, helpful whitepapers, e-learning courses and articles.
- Get inspired by the success stories of our customers. You can find them here on our website.
You can also find helpful templates for your job ads on our website:
- Discover our text templates for job ads here (German only).
- Looking for a design template? Click here to open the PDF version of our template. Once you have opened the link, you can also download the template as a Word document (German only).
- Our glossary "Stellenanzeige: Aufbau, Inhalt, Tipps und Vorlagen" will also provide you with other interesting insights (German only).