An Effective Online Job Ad – Part II

We have always been advocates of the use of graphics, fonts and other tricks to differentiate a job posting from the rest. Hiring managers often complain that they receive resumes from a posting, but not the right resumes. Usually the issue falls back on the problem that it is easier for a job seeker to apply to an ad than it is for them to read the ad and actually decide they are a good fit for a position.

From the March 16, 2006 Interbiznet Bugler “Realize first that you have less than 2 seconds to capture the mind’s eye of your ad reader. The first quarter- to-half-second, the human eye scans colors and shapes and in the next 1.5 seconds drinks the bold type and entire first line. A headline with five words or less is where the viewer decides whether to continue or move on. If your job headline does not lead to a benefit or take longer than 3 seconds to “show the money” in your digital ad; guess what? You lose. The vast majority scan a job posts headline and pick up only the bold or italicized copy and dollar signs. Less than 17% of online job seekers read word-by-word. Your ad does not mention specific money or benefits? You lose a great number of your qualified readers in the blink of an eye.”

A well branded, compelling ad that is aesthetically different than most of the other postings on a site grabs that reader’s attention and they are much more likely to stop, read and think. That’s half the battle.