Writing the advertisement

Recruitment advertising is very competitive. The aim of the job advertisement is to attract interest, communicate effectively the essential, appealing and relevant points and encourage candidates to take action. It should be short, informative and appealing.

Remember: a wealth of information, including the job description or information statement is available on the careers website – the aim of the advert is to create interest in the position.

Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

Effective job adverts often follow the classic AIDA format: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Attention

Attract the attention of relevant job seekers. A catchy headline will help your advert stand out, for example, 'This is a leading role...' 'Do you have an interest in...?' 'This joint position offers the opportunity for an ...to advance...through education and research.' 'As a ...within the ... department, you will...'.

Try to avoid superfluous phrases such as 'Applications are invited', or 'A vacancy has arisen'.

Use a descriptive job title – e.g. Lecturer in Psychology rather than simply Lecturer

Interest

Write as if you were speaking to your candidate. Create interest in the job opportunity by describing attractive features in the first part of the advert.

Before writing your advert, think about things that will interest top-quality applicants such as research opportunities, friendly and collegial department/school, work life balance, career opportunity. Emphasise these aspects of the job – without being misleading.

Desire

Now that you have the reader's attention and interest, create desire to pursue a great opportunity. Encourage potential candidates to apply by describing the ideal candidate.

Referring to the reader as 'you' and using the second person 'you' and 'your' helps people visualise themselves in the role.

Aim to appeal to the widest range and largest number of potential applicants, avoid causing them to self-select out - unless the criteria is absolutely essential.

Action

Encourage your reader to take action and apply!

Note: To ensure our advertising is in accordance with the University's marketing style and complies with legislation, the recruitment team review all adverts prior to publication.

Style of communication

Think about what style of communication will be attractive to your ideal candidates. This can depend on a variety of factors:

• Values
• Career motivations
• Personality type
• Generation
• Cultural background

Try to ensure you that you reach different groups of candidates.

Consider tailoring adverts for different groups of candidates. The phrase “Applications are invited” has been commonly used, however today some candidates may consider it old fashioned and off putting.

The University advertises in Te Reo Māori for those positions requiring fluency in the language and those with a particular Māori focus. Advertising in a different language attracts the attention of people fluent in that language.

Placing advertisements

Simply create a requisition using the Recruitment System, attaching the job description or information statement and ensure it is approved. This authorises the recruitment team to place the advert.

Upon receipt of the approved requisition the Recruitment Team will make contact and arrange for the vacancy to be advertised via your chosen media. Do let us know if you would like any further information on advertising options - we can obtain quotations from our media consultants.

All vacancies are advertised on the University careers website, in the next available Staff Bulletin. Appropriate vacancies can also be advertised on NZ Uni Career Hub.

To support the promotion of the University through LinkedIn a flat overhead charge of $90 will be added to each advertised vacancy. Departments will be charged for any third party advertising costs directly to their nominated cost centre. Human Resources process the invoices directly into Finance One on a monthly basis.