There's no set format to how your job advert content should be, but you should give the candidate enough information to decide whether they want to apply. Therefore, you should look to include the following details:
Your College – Rather than copying the ‘About Us' section from your website, try to relate this to the role. So, if it's a sales role you could put “A leading college looking to grow its links with local businesses.” whereas for an IT role you could put “A leading college with a newly developed website built on a .NET framework.”
This is your opportunity to sell the organisation and answer some critical question that they will have (See below) before they apply. Honesty is the best policy here, so please be realistic with what you say, and we would recommend giving it to them- an account of what life is really like at your organisation. After all, you don’t want your new employee to be disappointed on day one, and if you sell them utopia and give them a reality, that is likely to happen.
What are you? – Provide information about the college explain who you are and what you do as if they have no idea about the FE Sector.
Ideas: Type of college you are, what education and training you provide, when were you established, are you part of a group, Ofstead grade etc
Short job introduction – Aim to keep this to around 50-60 words and talk about the job rather than the college. This will help the reader quickly assess if it's an appropriate role for them, enticing them to keep on reading. This is also what we would recommend you put in the short description section when posting to AoC Jobs, but also include it at the top of your advert in the main body of the text.
Role responsibilities (Bullet Points) - List between three and six main tasks the successful applicant will be expected to undertake. Try to relate these to a business objective where possible so the applicant can envisage how the position fits into the company's plans. For example, “Developing an email marketing programme to help increase student attraction to our courses”. Remember your advert is not a job description and therefore doesn't need to include every element, just enough to get the right people to apply.
Person specification (Bullet Points) – What skills, qualifications or attributes are you looking for in your ideal applicant? Try and divide these up between what is essential and what would be desirable. If you are hoping to obtain a high level of applications, you can afford to be less specific with your requirements. Whereas if you just want a couple of high-quality applicants then be very clear about the strict criteria they will have to meet. Job seekers take literal notice of this area, and you can affect your response rate dramatically with just a few carefully chosen words.
What are the people like and will I fit in? Don’t forget with any company; it’s not the building that attracts people to your organisation but the staff that work in it. So you need to give the applicant an idea about the people they will be working with.
Ideas: Staff numbers, retention rates (if they are good), diversity statistics, training schemes, staff progression, quotes from staff members, staff groups, staff social events
What is the working environment like? Lastly, you need to provide details on their new working environment and the facilities that are available to them.
Ideas: New buildings being built, staff canteen, coffee shops etc, IT hardware etc
Rewards – As well as information on the salary candidates, can expect to receive, you should also look to point out some of the key benefits and perks they can look forward to. What would make them want to apply for your role rather than a similar position with a competitor? Rewards don't have to be financial so think about what flexible working programmes holiday entitlement or child daycare options your company offers.
Location - As well as filling in the ‘Location' field when filling in the online job posting form, you may also want to add more specific information about where the job is based. Is it a new building? Are there good transport links? Is there parking available? Is the role always based in the office/classroom or on different campuses? Where people work is often just as important as the role they are taking on.
How to apply - We would always recommend that you keep things simple by having one precise application and ideally use our ‘Apply Now' button on AoC Jobs. As this is visible to candidates and also provides you with relevant application data. By adding in multiple application methods such as links in the text and email addresses, this can sometimes be confusing to candidates. We would also recommend the next steps that the candidate has to take to complete the application; that way, you will reduce any potential candidates from dropping off. If possible, we would always recommend accepting CV applications for adverts as this is easier for job seekers and more appealing to candidates from outside the sector. If you add a contact telephone number, we would also recommend you include a reference number to quote so you can track where your applications came from.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Information - 62% of job seekers said they’re more likely to apply for a job where a company is openly committed to improving diversity and inclusion in their workforce. Therefore missing out this information could reduce your application rates by over a half.
TOP TIP: When posting your job to job boards, please state your Geographical location in the advert, using ideally your postcode (As this is better for Google search) or your town/city name. Please avoid using your campus locations i.e. Smithfield Campus or terms like ‘multiple campuses’ etc. as candidates are simply not searching for jobs with those terms and it means that your jobs will not get as many applications.