As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Job Benchmark will tell you what type of person you are looking for to fill a certain position. Would he be better suited to the position if he were task oriented or people oriented? Does he love the details, or is he more fast paced? Does he value a high return of investment, or does the job require more social awareness? Each job within a company will have specific requirements.

What separates good ads from average (or poorly written) ads is the writing: the ad should be written to “speak to” your ideal candidate. When the right person reads the ad, he should think, “that is my ideal job.” If he thinks that, he is more likely to apply, and also more likely to do the prequalification activities that you require. 

For instance, if you are hiring a bookkeeper or controller, you need to attract someone who is detail oriented and who likes to deal with financial matters. The ad might use words like Careful, Cautious, Quality, and a phrase like Get it right. The ideal candidate will be able to relate to these words and phrases easily, as they will be inherent to his personality.

Our experience is that when you write a highly targeted ad, fewer people apply – but more of them are a better fit. This not only saves you time, but also provides a qualified candidate pool.

We recently helped a company hire an inside sales person. You might think that this would be a typical sales profile, but the Job Benchmark indicated that we should be hiring a more introverted, process oriented person who will keep making calls and follow a script. The role required that the person not take shortcuts, and also enter the details of all interactions into a CRM system. This role was atypical from an outside sales person because of the attention to detail and strict direction following required. This is why the Job Benchmark is crucial to the hiring process.

In order to make a good hire, you first need to attract great candidates. Writing a highly targeted ad using the right keywords and phrases will attract more qualified candidates and make the hiring process much smoother.

For more on this topic visit perfecthireblueprint.com