Sunday 26th May

The Pulse

How to Write Killer SEEK Ads (Part 1)

Written by
Paul Hassing

SBO Archive

Print Page

29
Apr

Like Paul, myBRC and the Small Business Owner blog don’t endorse or have a relationship with SEEK.

Paul’s advice in this post is extremely useful – happy reading!

Some of my clients are starting to recruit again.

Just in case you are too, I’ve decided to reveal my methodology for writing killer SEEK ads.

This two-part guide summarises my learnings over several years & many, many successful ads.

You’ll see I’m using ampersands (&) instead of ‘and’.

When recruiting online, it pays to cut to the chase.

Summary

You have 150 characters, including spaces. Try to use them all, so you inspire readers to click through.

Include job title, focus & status (contract/perm/temp), specific location, money (salary or hourly rate) & benefits & something positive about the role or firm.

Bullets

Use exactly 3 to cover at least the following:

Something positive about the role.
Money (salary or hourly rate) & benefits.
Specific location. Job status (contract/perm/temp).

You can add more good things to a bullet, so long as it stays on one line. Familiar abbreviations (e.g. ‘&’, ‘pkg’, ‘neg’) free space for interesting content.

Be as specific & explicit as you can. If the salary is bad, find & flag other benefits.

Title

If the job title in the summary is a composite (e.g. Engineer – Electrical) reverse it here (e.g. Electrical Engineer).

Subtitle

An optional place to summarise the job in a creative way (e.g. Galvanise your career!). Don’t exceed 8 words.

Avoid hype, bad puns & clichés & only do it if you’re confident. If in doubt, leave it out.

Ad body

Talk to the reader as one person. Be friendly but professional. Address them as you would on the phone or in an interview.

Start with a line that relates the job to the reader, i.e. what it involves & what it (& the firm) will do for them & their career.

Then briefly describe the firm & what’s good about it. Awards & major projects impress more than detailed staff, location & revenue stats.

Try to give a sense & summary of the firm without boring readers or taking the focus off them.

How much you say here depends on how much content you have below. The idea is to make each ad fill a single page in this format. If one section is thin, go thick on another (or do more research!).

Rewards

What’s in it for the reader. This is where you live or die, so badger the client (which may be you!) for data.

Specifics talk much louder than generalisations. Try to cover:

Conditions & benefits (generous, flexible, packaged).
Projects (big, exciting, cutting edge).
Career options (many, varied, global).
Teams (expert, friendly, helpful, fun).
Travel (lots, exotic, all expenses paid).
Professional & personal development (generous, tailored, lateral).
Anything else that’s good, especially if it’s rare.

Stay Tuned!

Part 2 covers job duties, selection criteria, call to action & things to watch out for.

So don’t touch that dial!

How’m I doing so far?

Comments?

Questions?

Stories?

Your frank feedback is

SOUGHT.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

advertising, brand, business advice, copywriting, job ad, online job advertisement, online tools, recruit, recruiting, recruiting online, recruitment, staff, team

Next Article Previous Article

Add a comment Cancel reply

We love to hear what you think, but please note, that by submitting a comment you agree to our comment policy.

Our comments work like a dinner party. Differences of opinion are welcome but keep it respectful or the host will show you the door. If you're rude or abusive, your comment will be deleted. And if you're offensive, you won't be welcome back. We reserve the right to remove any comments that do not comply with our policy. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation.

What others are saying

Author

malcolm owens

April 29, 2010 at 9:45 am

Thanks Paul,

This is brilliant! I have already forwarded this to our HR manager and I’m sure we’ll get a much better result in the future. You should be charging for this advice!

Regards

Malcolm

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 9:46 am

You are so kind, Malcolm! Thank you. I told you 2010 was my Year of Giving Dangerously. As this is the bedrock of my expertise, I can’t think of anything more dangerous to give! Best regards, as always.

Reply
Author

Angela den Hollander

April 29, 2010 at 10:17 am

I love your line “Year of Giving Dangerously” – perfect! Having just spent the best part of my morning typing up a detailed plan for attracting more clients for a business friend, despite the fact that as a franchisee, there is limited or most likely no prospect of work for communic8 design from him, I know what you mean.

Karma points will have to suffice

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 10:20 am

Thanks, Angela. Man, if ever there were a woman with expertise to give, it’s you! Careful you don’t pull a hammy!

Karma points are the only ones that never expire. Beats cutting coupons off 2000 boxes of tea for some mangy spoon.

Thanks for dropping by!

Reply
Author

Joanna Maxwell

April 29, 2010 at 10:23 am

This is great stuff, Paul (though coming from you, that’s no surprise!). It just shows that it’s often harder to write well in a small space than a larger one. As a freelance journo, I’d much rather have 2000 words than 1200, and 500 is really terrifying. Looking forward to part 2!

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 10:25 am

I really appreciate your endorsement, Joanna. The older I get, the shorter my short stories become, as I spot ever more redundant words. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up with nothing but haikus!

Reply
Author

Andrea Boyle

April 29, 2010 at 10:26 am

The ad Paul prepared for us has seen 23 applications in the first 24 hours! Fantastic!

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 10:37 am

Welcome, Andrea. Sorry for the wait. New commenters sometimes get hung up for a bit. I’ve put a link behind your name too. Sing out if you’d rather not have it.

Your feedback is tremendous. I often say I like to live or die by the success of my words. Sounds like I may make it to this afternoon.

If it’s appropriate, I’d love you to check back with us to report whether the applicants were suitable. Quality not quantity and all that.

Thanks so much for taking the time to add your voice.

Reply
Author

Stephen Glanville

April 29, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Bluddy awesome mate…

I can’t add anything to what has already been said…except that, as I’ve said before, if you ever get your own planet, I’ll be first in line…oh! Actually, probably 2nd, behind Fonnie

Ooh! I can add this though:

I love it when folks say “You should be charging for this stuff”…if it’s that good and they can afford it, what’s stopping them from paying anyway? Do we have to ask? Is there some bluddy unwritten moral code preventing people from offering to pay? Or is it automatically overridden by that other unwritten moral code called ‘get away with whatever one can’?

I’m so over all of this ‘righteous money’ stuff propounded by those that have it…endless moral platitudes that if looked at closely amount to unfounded moral disclaimers and platitudes…and if they are founded on anything at all it would arguably be ‘the economy’, and we’re seeing how solid that ground is aren’t we?

When decent folk make decent contributions from which others derive value, is the obligation always going to be on the side of the ‘givers’ to ask for payment or dare I say it….donations? Should it first be written into law? Does everyone need an ‘incentive’ to do the bluddy ‘right thing’? It would appear so…

Who knows? If we actually tried it for a couple of years, ‘The year of giving dangerously’ may become ‘the year of reciprocating evenly’…God! What sort of ‘Economy’ would that produce?

You know we’re soaking in it…

Cheers

Stephen G

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 3:46 pm

Thanks heaps, Stephen. Soaking in it has even removed the grass stains from my orange coveralls!

I’m fed up with trying to flog stuff. I’ve decided to give it away.

I hear that under certain conditions, a tennis ball thrown to the horizon will eventually hit you in the back of the head.

So I’m casting my pearls to the airwaves. Maybe I’ll get nix. Or maybe the Hand of Faith will clip me on the earhole before I can say Dick Hamer.

As Vlad III was wont to say:

I’ll keep you posted.

Reply
Author

Stephen Glanville

April 29, 2010 at 5:04 pm

Good ol’ Vlad III…gotta love a guy that can stand in his convictions at everyone else’s expense

I think the ‘sucks’ bit about Karma (i.e. Hand of Faith), is that it has no time clause. I often wonder if all the stuff I do for nix this time is a balance for what I took in some other life?

If it is, then I have nothing to whinge about. But then the ‘forgetting’ bit chimes in and that’s what really sucks…and I can whinge about that! I’m really pissed at the prospect that some unknowable, non-corporeal dude/dudess, that is supposed to be a higher aspect of me (and all of us), has summarily decided that it’s ok to keep our own memories from us!

And if it isn’t? Well, I reckon I’ll be getting some serious protective attire for my ‘Dogma’ in preparation for the next time my ‘Karma’ tries to run it over…

As for casting pearls to the airwaves? It’s just the kind of place I’d prefer to live in…and how will it ever be if we just acquiesce and do what everyone else does because everyone else does it?

And it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been ‘posted’ ol’ Bean…ya get that on the big jobs ;-P…

Never give up! Never surrender! OOOOHWHAAA! Don’t you just love all that mucho boy stuff?

Always a pleasure Cobba

Cheers

Stephen G

PS Ouch! I just got hit in the back o’ the head by a tennis ball… ;-P

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 5:37 pm

Advantage: Glanville.

Reply
Author

Stephen Glanville

April 29, 2010 at 5:48 pm

Advantage my ____ bits! I didn’t throw it!

I’ll just whip it down to Forensics…it was probably Vlad ;-P

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 29, 2010 at 5:49 pm

Glanville to serve?

Reply
Author

Winston Marsh

April 30, 2010 at 1:39 pm

Great stuff Paul. Are you gunna mention in part 2 that there’s a great expose of this in aural form at your website http://www.thefeistyempire.com/ The other thing that gives me a lot of help in writing adverts is the book “Words that Sell”

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 30, 2010 at 2:54 pm

I completely forgot about those audio files, Winston!

They’re on my home page, but when you sees something every day it tends to become ‘invisible’. Anyone interested in job ad writing could well find those interviews a useful adjunct to this article.

Many thanks for the reminder. And for that excellent book reference. Best regards, P.

Reply
Author

Naomi from MYOB

April 30, 2010 at 5:36 pm

Hi Paul. Thanks for sharing this fantastic advice! Looking forward to part 2!
I have a helmet you can borrow for the tennis ball theory (so you don’t ruin your new one).

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

April 30, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Thank you, Naomi. I accept!

Reply
Author

Paul Hassing

May 31, 2010 at 9:18 pm

Final report from my client:

‘The ad attracted 48 applicants, 7 were considered, 2 were interviewed. One withdrew and the successful candidate was a person well known to both Mike and Trevor. He went through the formal application process and was the stand out applicant all the way through. He is starting next week and operating on a mutually agreed 3 month trial I believe. I’ll get mike to give you a further run down.’

There you go!

Reply