GreenSearch Hiring: What’s The Big Deal About Help Wanted Ads?

If you have ever sold an automobile through a classified ad, consider the amount of thought you gave to compressing an accurate description of your old clunker so it would fit in three lines of copy. After you read the final cut, it sounded so good you almost had to think twice about selling the vehicle. Words meant something in that ad. You wanted to make sure that the reader came away salivating over the image you painted of that faithful friend that was now leaking transmission fluid all over your driveway.

We all know that there’s a difference between selling a car through an ad and attracting people through an ad. Or is there? Don’t accurate and clearly written descriptions of what is required mean something? Don’t well-written descriptions of available positions suggest that the company has its act together and knows exactly what kinds of folks it needs to fill these positions? Won’t the more qualified applicants be interested in applying to those companies versus the vague generalized positions other companies advertise?

Positions that are not well described give people the impression that anyone can do this job. All you need to do is show up semiconscious and breathing. Yet when you look around at people who have had successful careers in an industry, there are some common threads in terms of what they like and do very well. Shouldn’t some of these traits be present in employment ads to help better qualify and select people who will be successful as well?

The other thing I noticed about some ads was the fact that many companies spent half their advertising dollars highlighting their benefits instead of describing the qualifications of the position they were trying to fill. It seemed to me that some very good employers were willing to provide life, medical, dental, 401(k) programs and disability insurance to anyone who was energetic, aggressive, self motivated, experienced, highly skilled, etc. Sign me up; it sounds like a good deal to me!

Speaking of advertising dollars; a 1-inch by 3-inch classified ad in the Sunday edition of The Atlanta Journal & Constitution will cost more than $750!

Here are some tips when preparing an employment ad:

What you say and how you say it reflects on your company. If the quality of the ad is not consistent with the quality your company produces, don't put it in the paper.

Look for ways to be different and stand out from other ads.

Use bold print and different font sizes to get and keep attention.

Many newspaper-classified departments can help you format an ad. If you use them, ask for a fax copy so you can see how it looks before placing it.

Typically, Sundays are more productive days to run an ad. Sometimes you can be effective during the week with a real eye catching ad when everyone else is waiting for the weekend.

If you are not good at this, get an ad agency to do it for you.

Remember: A well-developed ad could be used as a checklist to interview an applicant.

For more GreenSearch PeopleSmarts^® articles click here.

The above article was developed by GreenSearch which provides key management search, web-based job posting and management consulting services to the green industry and allied trades nationwide.

All Rights Reserved. No article can be reproduced in whole or in part without the expressed written consent of GreenSearch (www.greensearch.com).

For more information on GreenSearch, please call 888/375-7787 or click on the logo above.