Let me get this out of the way immediately. If you are reading this and thinking about applying for a job, but you only have some of the experience desired, please apply, because it’s better for everyone to explore that possibility than not.

Now, when trying to find the right candidate, job ads are indispensable as you already know, however, there are some small ways that you influence who does and does not apply. As I’m sure you know if you have some experience with recruiting, there are some applicants who have clearly not read the job description and nothing that you include or remove is going to dissuade them from hitting apply. 

First, there is the difference between ‘the ideal candidate will have’ and ‘the successful candidate will have’, as well as any other words to that effect. Do you want to leave the door open to those who lack some of the minor experience or skills you desire? Someone who may be under your experience threshold, e.g. only 4 years not 5 of sales, may still be a good candidate, but decide not to apply if they believe that they simply do not meet the requirements.

In most cases, however, candidates know to still apply even if they don’t meet all the skills required, but you may still lose out on candidates who decide they are unqualified. You may have heard that statistic that is often quoted that says men will apply for a job if they feel they have 60% of the experience required, whereas most women will only apply if they 100% meet everything required.  If some skills are non-negotiable, consider splitting them up into ‘candidates must have’ and ‘the ideal candidate will have’, this will certainly help to widen the net.

Second, let’s talk about ad length. If you are working with or for a larger organisation, I’m sure you’ve dealt with a long job specification document, laying out a full list of duties, scope, performance indicators and their position within the hierarchy, etc. Or maybe you have received a long list of duties and skills desired by a client or manager and have to create a job ad. In either case, you are faced with the issue that including too many duties can deter candidates from applying and obfuscate the main duties or skills that they primarily need for the position. This makes it harder for them to know if the position is right for them and can leave the job seeker feeling that a position is asking them to do the work of two people, or that the position requires a truly vast array of skills/experience to not feel imposter syndrome.

It can also lead to long and convoluted job specs that put off candidates, especially those on phones, which is important since they are increasingly used for finding jobs. Bullet point key information and keep the descriptions of duties concise. Combine similar duties into more general duties and use the space saved to sell the role. You could give an insight into the business’s culture or the benefits of the role. Humanising the company and highlighting the benefits of working for you can make the role far more appealing, especially for those looking to settle in long term or climb the career ladder within the business. Just make sure this is backed up in reality, or it may have the exact opposite effect.

Third, how flexible are you with experience. If you are happy to accept individuals with transferable skills and/or offer training, then you can broaden your candidate pool significantly. Doubly so if you are willing to offer work from home positions, but that’s a topic for another day.  If someone already has the skills and can adapt, it can sometimes be quicker to train them than wait for the perfect candidate to come along, especially in today’s job market with many people re-assessing their career and positions being tough to fill.

If someone has a strong work history and the major skills required by your role, it may be worth having an interview with them to judge their aptitude and enthusiasm. If you believe they will stay long term and have enough knowledge to hit the ground running, they could become a strong member of the team with minimal training.

If you are willing to offer training, putting ‘trainee’ in the job title makes it clear for anyone browsing job boards that they do not need experience in that position to apply, which will usually result in more applicants. However, this may scare off individuals already working in that position, as they might see it and believe that the position is more junior, a step down the career ladder.

You have to make the decision on how you want to market this role and who you are trying to target. If you are willing to offer full training, you are going to want to find someone who is genuinely interested in a career within your sector/organisation, as there is no point in training someone who immediately leaves. Stress that you are looking for someone interested in a career with the company in the opening paragraph and thoroughly check candidates’ reasons for leaving their past positions when they apply.

Finally, what can be done about things such as a non-competitive salary, mandatory unsociable hours, an inconsistent shift schedule, callout requirements, occasional long travel, rotating day and night shifts or longer hours for the same pay as equivalent positions? You could try to hide it, but that will backfire spectacularly when the candidate finds out, which they inevitably will. You will either lose them from the recruitment process or they will leave the position. Either way, you will have wasted both your time and theirs, not to mention if they have already left their previous employment. If the job details are not your call to make, there’s little that you can do other than cast your nets and if you get nothing, use that to convince those in charge why you need to have a genuinely competitive offer. 

If it is your call, think about what would balance working unsociable hours, day and night shift rotations, etc. Most likely it’s extra salary, but other options such as extra days off or working from home can help. If your salary is non-competitive, the option of working from home still attracts people, however, many people may never see or click on the advert at all. Things like providing my holiday allowance, car allowance, gym membership and healthcare can all be attractive options as well as many others. Ultimately, you do not simply have to match your competition, if you want an experienced employee who spends a good amount of time with each employer, you will have to outbid your competition in some way, because those candidates will be snapped up almost instantly.

There is an art to writing a good job specification and right now this is more important than ever. If you would like to talk to us about how we can support you with your hiring needs then let’s have a conversation, you can email cathy.knight@ismepeople.co.uk