Understanding how to write an effective job ad and how to post that job ad is essential to hiring new talent. In this article, we will walk you through how to write and post a job ad to make hiring seem like a breeze.
After you learn how to write a job ad, one of the most important steps is learning where to distribute your job ad. One of our favorite places to post job ads is ZipRecruiter. With one click on ZipRecruiter, your job ad will be posted to 100+ job boards. This means that your job ad will be seen and found by many potential employees. You can get started with ZipRecruiter for free!
What Is A Job Ad?
A job ad is a statement of an open job position. A job ad typically includes information about the open position, information about the company, benefits, and perks that may be included, and instructions on how to apply for the job opening.
Please, note there’s a difference between a job ad and a job description. Job ads tend to be used as a marketing tool to announce the job opening. Job ads often contain buzzwords, company perks and other benefits to capture the attention of a potential employee. A job description on the other hand lays out an employee’s exact responsibilities and expectations. Typically job descriptions are more detailed than job ads.
COVID-19 And Recruiting Employees
COVID-19 has brought many changes to interviewing, remote working, and more. When you post job ads, we would recommend taking time to communicate and be responsive as an employer. It may also be worthwhile to mention how your company is operating with COVID-19 restrictions. Is your company working remotely? Will you hold remote interviews? Are you operating in-person? If so, what precautions are you taking?
If you can provide as much information as possible up-front, this will help you attract your ideal employee and also prepare them for what you are looking for. For example, if someone is looking for a remote role, but you plan to bring your company back to the office, being up-front about this will save you time, save you money and prevent you from hiring the wrong person.
How To Write A Job Ad
Gather the Information You Need To Write Your Job Ad
To write a job ad, you should include the following elements:
- Job title
- Company information
- Job description
- Job duties
- Job requirements and preferred qualities
- Pay range
- Benefits
- How to apply
For a more detailed guide on how to write a job ad, read How To Write A Help Wanted Ad.
Determine Your Recruiting Budget
Now that you have written your job ad, it is time to determine your recruiting budget. Determining your recruiting budget is an important step. If you do not determine your budget, you will not be able to find the most cost-effective places to promote your job opening.
One way that you can calculate your recruiting budget would be to add all of your projected internal and external recruiting costs. If you plan to hire 5 people over the next year, you will likely need 5 job listings on however many job boards you choose to use. You can select the job boards you wish to use and then multiply each job board’s fee by the number of hires you plan to make over the year. Then add all of the job boards together to get the total projected cost for the job boards.
If you have a tight budget, you can utilize free job posting sites.
Distribute Your Job Posting
You are now ready to distribute your job posting. Distributing your job posting allows the general public and potential employees to be aware that you have an opening. If you don’t distribute your job posting anywhere, it would be challenging to get anyone to apply!
Here are the top places we recommend distributing your job posting:
- Job boards such as: ZipRecruiter, Monster, Indeed, Careerbuilder, Glassdoor
- Social media sites such as Facebook
- Internal communications at your company
You have already determined your recruiting budget in the above step. Your budget may impact how many places you are able to distribute your job opening. Depending on your budget, you may also choose to boost posts on social media or promote an opening on a job board.
How To Post A Job Ad
In this section, we will walk through how to post a job ad to some of the popular job boards.
How To Post A Job To ZipRecruiter
You can get started with a free trial of ZipRecruiter. Start by creating an employer account.
Step 1: On the upper right corner of the ZipRecruiter homepage, click on “Post a Job.” Select any plan and enter a credit card to validate your account. (If you decide to cancel before the free trial ends, you will not be charged anything.)
Step 2: Complete your job and browse candidates.
For more details, check out our guide to posting a job on ZipRecruiter.
How To Post A Job To Indeed
Step 1: Click the Post a Job button to get started
Step 2: Enter your job details
Step 3: Add your job description
Step 4: Include applicant qualifications + assessments
Step 5: Choose to sponsor or post for free*
For more details, check out our guide to posting a job on Indeed.
How To Post A Job To Monster
Step 1: Click "For Employers" on the home page.
Step 2: Select "Post a Job."
Step 3: Choose a posting plan.
Step 4: Create an account or sign in to Monster.
Step 5: Enter your billing information
Step 6: Submit your job post
For more details, check out our guide on how to post a job to Monster and our Monster review.
How To Post A Job To Careerbuilder
Step 1: Select “Post A Job”
Step 2: Choose your package
Step 3: Enter your payment details
Step 4: Preview and submit your job posting
For more details, see our CareerBuilder review that includes step-by-step instructions for posting a job on LinkedIn.
How To Post A Job To LinkedIn
Step 1: Click the Jobs icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
Step 2: Click the Post a job button.
Step 3: On the Job Details page, complete the following fields:
Step 4: Click Continue.
Step 5: On the Applicant Options page, complete the following fields:
Step 6: Click Post Job for Free.
For more details, see our LinkedIn review that includes step-by-step instructions for posting a job on LinkedIn.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you write a catchy job ad?
To write a catchy job ad, be sure to include all of the details about the job opening. To catch a potential employee’s attention, it may also be a good idea to include perks, benefits, and information about the company.
Where is the best place to post a job opening?
It depends on your goals and budget. Check out our complete guide to the best free job posting sites.
Bottom Line
Learning how to write and post a job ad will help your hiring process. If you are still struggling with this process, we would recommend checking out ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter is a great place to distribute your job openings and they can also assist with screening questions, interviewing, and more.
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