The job advert is the first thing a candidate reads about your organisation. In a competitive market, a poor advert doesn't just fail to attract the right people — it actively attracts the wrong ones, or puts off strong candidates who were the right fit but didn't realise it.

This guide covers what makes an advert work, the most common mistakes, and how to write one that brings in applications from people you'd actually want to hire.

The job title is what determines whether your advert gets found. On job boards, candidates search by job title — so if your internal job title is creative ("Growth Ninja", "People Champion", "Head of Awesome") but doesn't match what people actually search for, your advert won't appear in their results.

Use the title the candidate would search for, not the one your internal hierarchy uses. If your internal title is "Growth Lead" but the candidate you want would be searching for "Marketing Manager" or "Performance Marketing Manager", use the searchable version in the job board posting and explain the internal title in the body of the advert.

Also avoid inflated seniority in titles. Calling every individual contributor a "Senior" or "Lead" makes your advert less credible to the very candidates you want to attract.

Most job adverts open with a description of the hiring company — who they are, what they do, how exciting it is to work there. Candidates skip this paragraph. They came to find out about the job, not read a corporate summary they can find on the About Us page.

Your opening paragraph should answer the question the candidate is actually asking: "Is this the kind of role I should spend time reading about?" That means leading with what the role does and why it matters — not who you are.

Requirements lists are where most adverts lose good candidates. Research consistently shows that women are less likely than men to apply for a role unless they meet close to 100% of the listed requirements. Men apply if they meet around 60%. This means an inflated requirements list doesn't just set unrealistic expectations — it skews the diversity of your pipeline.

Be honest about what's genuinely required versus what would be nice to have. If a requirement is nice-to-have, say so — or remove it. Every requirement you add that isn't truly necessary is a filter that's turning away qualified candidates.

Also avoid requirements that are proxies for other things. "10 years of experience in X" usually means "we want someone senior enough to handle X confidently." Say what you actually need, not the arbitrary measure you think correlates with it.

The 'must have' test. For every requirement on your list, ask: "If a candidate was outstanding in every other way but didn't have this, would we rule them out?" If the answer is no, it's not a must-have. Remove it or move it to a 'nice to have' section.

Include a salary range. Adverts without salary information consistently underperform against those that include it. Candidates waste time applying for roles that turn out to be below their expectations. Hiring teams waste time interviewing people who decline when the offer comes. Including a salary range respects everyone's time and improves the quality of the applicant pool.

If your hiring manager is uncomfortable disclosing a range because they don't want to anchor negotiations, the solution is to publish a realistic range rather than to hide the salary entirely. A range of £50k–£60k tells candidates what to expect without removing all flexibility at offer stage.

In many markets — including Scotland, Ireland, and parts of the US — salary transparency is increasingly expected by candidates as a basic standard of how an employer treats people. Hiding salary is often read as a signal about culture.

Every advert says "great culture," "collaborative team," and "fast-paced environment." These phrases communicate nothing because they've been used so widely they've lost all meaning. Candidates don't believe them and don't make decisions based on them.

Instead, be specific. If your culture involves particular working patterns, decision-making styles, or genuine differentiators, describe them specifically. "We hold no recurring meetings on Fridays" says more than "great work-life balance." "Everyone in the team presents to the board quarterly" says more than "high-growth environment with lots of exposure."

Specificity builds credibility. It also attracts people who genuinely fit and discourages people who don't — which is exactly the filtering job an advert should do.

Writing for the hiring manager, not the candidate. The person you want to hire is not reading your job spec — they're reading your advert. It should be written from their perspective.

Listing every responsibility rather than the important ones. A list of 15 responsibilities reads as either vague or overwhelming. Focus on the 4–6 things that matter most to the role.

Using internal jargon. Acronyms, internal systems names, and company-specific terminology mean nothing to an external candidate and make the advert harder to read.

Being vague about the structure. Who does the role report to? Is there a team to manage? What's the travel expectation? These basics get left out constantly and generate avoidable back-and-forth with applicants.

No call to action. Tell candidates exactly how to apply and what happens next. "Apply via the button below — we respond to all applications within five working days" is simple and removes the ambiguity that causes drop-off.

We write job adverts for our clients as part of every recruitment engagement. If you'd like us to look at an advert you're running that isn't performing, or to write one from scratch, get in touch.