What candidates really want to see on your job adverts

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A recent survey has revealed what really motivates candidates to apply for one job over another.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pay has come out on top as the most important factor. With 90% of respondents saying that salary is their top priority, it’s clear that without indicating a clear pay bracket, your job adverts are going to struggle to attract great people.

While it’s not going to come as a huge surprise that people want a decent pay packet, what else are candidates looking for in a job advert when they’re job hunting?

Business reputation

The reputation of a company matters to 74% of candidates. So much so that they will research a company before applying to the role, look at their website, search for articles about them, ask friends and look on the company’s social media pages.

Recommendations

We all know that recommendations are powerful in any area of business and it would appear as though this applies to recruitment as well. Over 70% of people questioned said that they would apply for a job if it was recommended by a friend and 29% would consider it if recommended by another source.

Clear descriptions

Half of candidates said that they would be attracted to a role that offers the opportunity to progress and almost half said that they would like to see a clear job description which outlines this. By showing candidates a clear career route and highlighting which tasks they will be responsible for, it helps them to envisage exactly what it would be like to work for you.

Location

Data collected from the survey reveals that 33% of candidates are willing to travel more than 20 miles for work and 35% would even relocate for the right role. Interestingly, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the average commuting distance increased by more than 60% between 1976 and 2001.

It appears as though people are willing to commute further if it’s a short-term commitment. 44% of contractors said that they would travel over 20 miles for a role compared to 27% of permanent staff.

While this figure is likely to be affected by the increasing number of cars on the road, with 3.7 million UK workers travelling an average of two hours per day, it’s thought that stagnant wages and soaring house prices are also playing a part.

What candidates are less worried about seeing on job adverts:

Coming out on the bottom of the list of things candidates expect to see on job postings include:

  • Pensions
  • Bonus schemes
  • Free gym memberships
  • Voucher schemes
  • Company car

If you would like help writing your next job advert or need assistance with any aspect of your recruitment process, please feel free to contact Choralis Consulting and we will be more than happy to help.

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