A good job advertisement does two jobs at once: it pulls in the right people and quietly screens out the wrong ones. Get it right and your shortlist does half the work for you. Get it wrong and you spend weeks sorting through applicants who were never a fit. Here is how to write an ad that works.
1. Start with a clear, searchable job title
This is the single most important line in your ad. Most candidates find roles by searching a plain job title, so use the name people actually search for — "Second Year Carpenter" or "Diesel Mechanic", not "Construction Superstar" or "Workshop Ninja". Clever titles feel fun to write but they sink to the bottom of search results and confuse the people you want. If the role is part-time, casual or fixed-term, say so in or near the title.
2. Open with what is in it for them
The best candidates usually already have a job. Your first two or three sentences need to give them a reason to keep reading. Lead with the things that genuinely matter: the type of work, the team, job security, training, progression, location, or flexibility. Save the long company history for later — or leave it out. Candidates are deciding whether the role fits their life, not reading your annual report.
3. Be specific about the actual work
Vague ads attract vague applicants. Instead of "duties as required", list the four to six tasks the person will genuinely spend their time on. Specifics help good candidates picture the role and self-select, and they help you assess applications later because you can compare each person against the same clear list. A short, honest description of a typical day or week works far better than a wall of generic responsibilities.
4. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves
One of the most common reasons strong candidates do not apply is a long list of requirements that reads as non-negotiable. Split your requirements into two short lists. "Essential" should only contain things a person truly cannot do the job without — a licence, a ticket, a specific qualification. "Desirable" is everything that would help but can be learned. Keep the essential list genuinely short. Every extra "essential" item filters out people who could have done the job well.
5. Be upfront about pay and location
Ads that include a pay range consistently attract more and better-matched applicants, because people can tell at a glance whether the role suits them. You do not need an exact figure — a sensible range is enough. Be just as clear about location and working arrangements: the suburb or region, whether it is on-site, and the hours. Hiding these details mostly wastes everyone's time when they surface at interview.
6. Make the application step easy
Every extra hoop loses you good people. Ask only for what you genuinely need to make a first decision — usually a CV and a short note is plenty. Long forms, logins and essay questions cause strong candidates, who have other options, to give up. Tell people exactly what to do next, who to contact, and roughly when they will hear back. A clear, simple application step is one of the easiest ways to lift your response rate.
7. Read it back before you publish
Before the ad goes live, read it once as a candidate. Is the title clear? Is it obvious in the first few lines why someone would want this job? Could a good person be put off by an overlong requirements list? Check spelling, check the contact details work, and make sure the tone matches your business. A few minutes of review here saves a lot of poor applications later.
Writing ads like this every time takes effort and consistency, which is exactly the kind of groundwork we help employers with. If you would rather hand over the advertising and documentation and keep your records tidy, that is what we do.
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