Job Opening Title.  Our society is somewhat obsessed with titles.  They let your job candidates know the level of importance of the job position.  It also helps them understand their role in the company.

Primary Responsibilities. This is the section of the job advertisement that explains what the person in the position is responsible for doing on a daily basis. This is also where you can include a set of desired skills, experience or education. The wording of this section s the way in which a good advertisement encourages qualified applicants to respond while deterring nonqualified applicants.

Location. As the study in 1999 indicated, location is an important consideration for job seekers. Robert Half International's research has shown that over 81% of job seekers will not even respond to a recruitment advertisement that doesn't indicate the location of the position!

Business name. While this may seem obvious, there are many companies who prefer to leave their company name out of a recruitment advertisement. This occurs for a variety of reasons. Often, the company just wants to avoid receiving phone calls regarding the job opening, particularly if they are using a recruitment firm to handle their inquiries. Sometimes a business leaves their name out of the job advertisement because they have received bad press.

In some cases, a business will opt to remain anonymous because the person who is currently working in the position does not know that their position will be ending and that they will be replaced. If none of these situations apply to your business situation, you should always include your organization in the advertisement. Robert Half International found that over 13% of job seekers avoid applying for positions that do not disclose the company name.

Layout of Recruitment Advertisements

The most important information should always be included at the top of your advertisement. Your business name, the job opening title, the salary, the location. The reason for this is because most job seekers are scanning classifieds and online job banks by job title. Once they find one that is a potential match, they scan for location, business and salary. Having this information right up front helps qualified applicants who are interested find you faster, and prevents accidentally missing the posting.

Once you've provided this information, you follow it with the description and key information. It's a good idea to start with a few bulleted points that can be highlighted, whenever there is something unique about the position- and then follow it by the longer, more detailed description. Include a list of required skills, experiences, and education of your applicants. 

Below is a sample job advertisement:

Action Accounting

Administrative Assistant

Salary Wage: $24,500 Annually

Based in Brooklyn, New York

Local company looking for administrative assistant/receptionist. Applicant must have good phone voice, computer experience using Microsoft Office and general office skills. There is no relocation package offered for this position.

 Summary of Position:

Primarily responsible for  providing  administrative/operations assistance, in a computerized  environment, to accounting skills,  as needed. The duties of the position  may include but are not limited to:   answering phones, researching  and responding to inquiries; documenting customer  comments in  Access database; providing information in all areas of accounting;  word processing; assisting efforts in the areas of planning and  marketing  (including design and creation of Excel spreadsheets);  scheduling appointments;  report design; clerical support and reception  for professional office; other  jobs as assigned. Promptness, dependability and flexibility in work hours are essential as occasional (rare) early morning, evening or weekend work may be  necessary.

Areas of Responsibility:

Answers phones and assists customers with information concerning their accounts, appointments and other information as needed

 Experience/Education Required:

Applicants should have associates degree or 2-4 years administrative/secretarial experience.   Must be intermediate level in the following programs:  Microsoft Access, Word, and Excel.

Experience with multi-line phone system desired.

 Action Accounting Service Philosophy:

Action Accounting strives to provide prompt, reliable and courteous service to all callers and clients, with the goal of having every caller's questions answered in a timely and pleasant manner to ensure all are satisfied customers.

Legal Concerns.

When creating the contents of your recruitment advertisement, you want to be sure you don't require a specific gender or background requirement of your applicants. In most countries, you cannot specify a specific age range for a position either; with the exception of stating that applicants must not be minors in the event of odd hours or dangerous machinery.

In an effort to establish branding while remaining within legal constraints, you may want to include information about your organizations equal opportunity policies. Many companies will include a paragraph or short summary statement that indicates your policy of equal opportunity. You may also indicate any diversity initiatives within your organization to encourage minorities to apply, and still be within legal constraints.