Job Advertising Guide
1 Components to a good advert
1.1 Visual Media
If you are able, we recommend you use images throughout e.g. images of the office environment and the people that work there. These can be a really powerful way for you to tell stories and add authenticity. Try and go a step further and include other multimedia if possible e.g. video.
Embedding videos is great way to showcase our employer brand.
1.2 Headings and Keywords
Use headings and bold your keywords to draw the eye to the really important information in your job ad. Candidates tend to skim through job ads so using headings and bolded keywords can help provide structure for candidates and act as visual cues to indicate what areas in the job ad are most important.
Breaks and bullet points (limit of 5 per job advert section) are important for readability as candidates are moving to looking at job adverts on mobile platforms.
1.3 Describe the Employer
This will be the first paragraph of your job ad. Describe your company assuming they know nothing about you. Explain why Buller is a great organisation to work for.
1.4 About the Job
At this point candidates will have a fair idea of the job is as indicated by job title but try to give them as much insight about the role as possible. Try to use different language like ‘You’, ‘Your’ and ‘Yours’. You’re not just focusing on ‘We’ and ‘This role will’. Start things off with ‘you will do XXX’, ‘you will have the opportunity’ and ‘your responsibilities will include’.
This language will engage the potential applicant more and will make them feel part of the process as they read the job ad
1.5 About the Ideal Candidate
The job ads that work best are candidate-centric. Instead of just telling candidates the skills and experience they need to perform the job, explain what they would need to do in the role and how you as an organisation are going to help them do it.
1.6 Requirements
List the requirements, making sure to separate the ideal from the minimum. This will help you filter out people who are not a good fit for the role. Define what is absolutely required in simple human language. You can then add, the nice to haves thereafter.
1.7 Salary Range & Benefits
Mention salary range and benefits if possible. Only a few other employers actually list the salary in their job ads so this presents a real opportunity for you, as it is one of the top things your candidate is looking for and most of your competition isn’t doing it. If you are restricted from posting this, consider adding a line like ‘If you would like to discuss salary range, please call me to discuss!’
1.8 Application Process
Define the application process. Candidates want to know what happens next. They will want to know when they can expect to hear from you. This helps you set candidate expectations. Giving people an idea of what the process is reduces their risk and fear and will increase the likelihood of great talent applying to you.
1.9 Call to Action
When developing a call-to-action, you need to consider both passive and active candidates. Active candidates will be ready to send you a CV so some examples of CTAs you could use for these types of candidates include:
“Are you the one we’re looking for? Apply now by clicking the Apply button, or email me for more information”
“Apply before March 31 for immediate consideration”
“Don’t delay! We’re hiring as quickly as possible, call me during business hours on 5777 9999 to discuss, or email me your details”
For passive candidates, you could invite the interested applicant to phone you or email you to express interest in the job or find out more about the role. Humanise the language and tone and give them multiple ways they can contact you. For example:
“Not ready to apply, or have some questions first? Call me, Hiring Manager, on 9999 9999 (before 4:30pm) to discuss in confidence”
2 Buller Job Ad Checklist
The job ad is framed in a candidate-centric way
It has images and/or videos
It has important keywords in bold
Headings are included with structured paragraphs
There is a way for candidates to contact directly
There is a strong call-to-action to apply
3 Other tips
3.1 Simplicity
“You will be responsible for serving guests that will enable Buller Ski Lifts to deliver all day, every day, the best possible mountain experience”
3.2 Unexpectedness
If you want to make your job ads memorable, it’s really important that you pique the candidate’s curiosity and hold their interest, and the best way to do that in your job ads is to violate traditional expectations and be counterintuitive. What do I mean by that? Well, take the job ad for a recruiter I mentioned earlier, for example. Where most other job specs might say they would like the candidate to be “ambitious”, we should say:
“We’re not interested in people who want a job. Apply elsewhere for that. We want people who’d like to lead a company like ours one day and if that fails, you’ll retire early skiing all the time. We have big dreams and we expect you to have the same.”
3.3 Concreteness
Ultimately, you want your job ads to help candidates be able to visualise themselves in the job and working within BSL– to see, in their head, who they’ll be working with, where they’ll be sitting and what it’s like to work there on a daily basis – to put themselves into the story. And the only way to do this is by presenting them with concrete ideas – ideas that stimulate the senses and engage emotions.
When describing BSL in a recent job ad for a Staff Services Assistant, we could have said “we’re one of the largest ski resorts in Victoria”. But that’s boring. It’s neither exciting or memorable. It doesn’t give you a picture of what it’s really like to work with Buller Ski Lifts. It’s not a concrete idea. So instead, we said:
“Our 80 strong team over summer is a small, hard-working and passionate crew and when winter hits we grow to a massive team of 600+ seasonal staff from around the world.”
3.4 Credibility
Simple ideas, unexpected phrasing, and concrete images are all well and good, but what you say and how you say it, also has to be believable. Just because you tell the candidate “you will work in an innovative, high-paced environment with lots of opportunity to progress” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true, and the candidate knows that. All they have is your word for it and, let’s face it, you’re the one looking to find people to fill the job! Your ideas need to carry their own credibility. So from this moment on, it’s out with the broad sweeping statements like “innovative, high-paced environment”, and in with the employee quotes. For example:
“I started here 4 years ago and have had 5 different jobs in 3 departments. I work with amazing people who inspire me to be the best I can be. The lifestyle here is awesome!”
– John Smith, Mountain Operations
3.5 Emotions
The easiest, most foolproof way to get people to care about your job ad is to make them feel something about it. And the best thing to remember when trying to tap into someone’s emotions is that people are hard wired to feel things about other people, not abstractions. While it’s very difficult for a candidate to feel something about a typical job description when it says something like, “you will report to the executive chef as part of a team of five”, it’s much easier to get them emotionally involved if you introduce people into the equation. For example:
“You will report to Vince (referred to as “Vincent” when he’s done something wrong), the Executive Chef. Vince is a father, husband and genius behind the stove – in that order. His team consists of Dave, Graham and Naomi. Naomi’s the real boss!”
3.6 Stories
Storytelling is super important in the writing of your purpose-driven job descriptions. Why? Because stories act as mental flight simulators. By telling a story in our job descriptions we are able to put somebody into the shoes of that role, so that the applicant can envision how doing this job will contribute to a goal.
“We started last year with 6 people. Stephen and Reza joined us as interns after responding to a YouTube video; no salary, just the will to grow and learn. We hired them full time 3 months later. Lisa trained as a Black belt 3 years ago in her old job. She called asking us if we were hiring and we snapped her up! Since then we’ve hired Johnny’s brother Graham and his mate Dave. This year your job will be to scale this to 15 more people. You’ve got your work cut out for you!
3.7 Bonus Tip: You, Your, and Yours
When you begin writing your purpose-driven job ad, you need to keep in mind that you are writing the job ad for the perfect candidate. Therefore, it needs to speak to them and them alone. So ditch every sentence that contains the words “we” or “us”, and instead replace them with “you, your and yours”.
Example Advert
About Buller Ski Lifts, your next company
The Buller Ski Lifts (BSL) group of companies operates a diverse range of businesses in Australia’s leading alpine resort of Mt Buller, Victoria including Resort and Mountain Operations, Hospitality, Ski & Snowboard School and Retail & Rental.
Our 80 strong team over summer is a small, hard-working and passionate crew and when winter hits we grow to a massive team of 600+ seasonal staff from around the world. Through all seasons we cater to the 24 hour needs of our on mountain guests, and we take great pride in sharing our love for the alpine lifestyle in which we live and work. We are both one of Victoria’s largest regional employers and a family business that prides itself on positive working relationships, high retention and recognition of excellence.
Your next Job
“All day, every day, the best possible Mountain experience” is our mantra and as our Engineering & Assets manager you will be an important part of that. You will be based at Mount Buller with the opportunity to live and work in the Mansfield area and report directly to our General Manager. As part of our Senior Management team you will be responsible for the strategic asset lifecycle management of our unique lifting systems, snow making and mobile plant and equipment as well as other built assets and facilities including hospitality venues, retail outlets and accommodation.
What we’ll need from you
As you establish yourself as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to our leadership team we will need you be our internal project lead for all capital projects and facilities management. This includes being our expert in providing and coordinating technical engineering advice.
Your key deliverables will be:
• Developing and leading our asset maintenance strategies across the business for all on and off snow built assets
• Managing our capital and facility works programs in line with defined maintenance needs
• Leading and managing our asset, facility and contractor site teams
• Providing ongoing technical support and engineering expertise for our diverse portfolio of business units
• Exploring innovative equipment, new technologies, operational processes and engineering opportunities to remain an industry leader in our field
What you’ll need to succeed
We’re not looking for just anybody for this job, if you don’t share a passion for the outdoors and the active lifestyle we live and breathe; this might not be the role for you.
When you come on-board with us in January next year, you will need to bring the following with you to be successful:
• A Bachelor’s degree in engineering
• 10 years’ experience in site based construction management and/ or major asset facilities management
• Experience in coordinating internal and external contractor teams to deliver outcomes
• Well-developed interpersonal, facilitation and presentation skills with the ability to engage and influence at all levels
• Demonstrated experience in negotiation, budget management, estimating, financial reporting and data analysis
Your previous construction management, site engineering or mining experience will be highly regarded but not a perquisite.
What you’ll get in return
With a competitive salary, this is a fantastic opportunity for a fresh start to the New Year. On Mt Buller and in nearby Mansfield where many of our staff live, you will find vibrant communities, beautiful hiking trails, camping, lakes, rivers and quality food and produce at your doorstep. You will also get additional summer leave and flexibility, enviable ski industry benefits and subsidised on-mountain accommodation.
What’s next?
Are you the one we’re looking for? Love snow and the great outdoors and have a knack for engineering? Apply now by clicking the Apply Now button. We will be closing applications on the 18th of November, 2021.
Not ready to apply, or have some questions first? Call me Ryoma Parker on 03 5777 7979, before 5.00pm to discuss in confidence, or email us at hr@skibuller.com.au
If you meet a number of the requirements, but not all, we encourage you to submit your application.
