Clients

• How to write effective Cloud job adverts
• Always take a detailed requirement analysis
• Write Cloud job adverts that champion diversity

Writing is easy.

Why else do you think everyone has a blog nowadays?

Other than simply being material proof to your manager that you’re actually doing some work, writing serves purpose.

For recruiters and hiring managers, a key purpose for our writing is in job advertising.

Job adverts are an important element in your outreach efforts to find top Cloud & IT Infrastructure talent.

Much like with all aspects of the recruitment process, these pieces of writing can be analysed and optimised to increase your potential return-on-investment.

Time is money as they say, and you want to get the most out of the time you spend carefully crafting your external job adverts.

Top Cloud talent have many potential opportunities on offer, so discovering how to quickly catch their eye for long enough to show them why working for your business is their next good decision should be top of the learning agenda for hiring managers.

Here at InfraView we know all about not only how IT solutions providers work, but also what candidates are looking for in today’s cloud jobs market.

If you’re in need of quick, personalised advice you can give us a call on 020 3617 1040 and one of our team can give their insight.

But for now, let’s learn more about what you need to know about writing job adverts.

How to write effective Cloud job adverts

On the surface, it might seem writing job adverts is easy.

However, by spending a bit of time delving into the intricacies of writing copy you will find ways of using job adverts to achieve your hiring objectives more effectively.

Our Co-Founder Tim Davey has some great advice for you when writing Cloud job adverts.

“I’ve written thousands of job adverts over the years, targeting top Cloud & IT Infrastructure talent within the IT solutions and Managed Services Provider space.

In the war for talent in niche growing markets, an effective job advert can go a long way not only in securing talent for an immediate hire but also in terms of marketing your business to the talent community for the future.

It’s important to note that also a job advert and a job description are very much two different things.

A job advert is to sell a role and to attract attention to the job and your brand.

A job description comes into play later and is more of a thorough description of a role and its responsibilities.

As a hiring manager, your time is split between writing job adverts and your other tasks. So what quick wins can you employ to improve the quality and effectiveness of your job adverts?

The first thing to consider is that an effective job advert should grab the attention of the reader straight away. Think about how you’re beginning and what you’re actually selling. Why should they apply to this role over the hundreds or thousands of others? What is the most inciting part of this role? Open with it!

It should sell the business’ USPs (Unique Selling Point) and why someone would want to come and work for a new organisation or within a new role.

A great job advert should tell a story and a journey highlighting the culture and values of your organisation.

It should also easily communicate the key points of the position without sounding like a boring list. Use bullet points instead of large chunks of text so cloud job applicants can easily see why they can’t miss this opportunity.

Also have a call to action at the end of the cloud job advert. This should be something easy and direct for the applicant to do. This could be asking them to “call this number”, or “follow this link”, or simply “apply now!”

Once the job ad is written, it’s crucial to get it out there. There’s no point in writing a great advert if no one sees it so make sure it’s on your company website, is optimised for google for jobs, and has been indexed for aggregation by job board aggregators such as Indeed.

The key aspect when thinking about anything marketing related, not just job adverts, is to think with your target audience in mind. Who are you writing this job advert for? Create personas of your ideal candidates, then write your job adverts targeted towards that individual based on their needs and pain points.

Starting with these tips will get you on the right track, and moving towards writing effective cloud job adverts.”

Job adverts start with a great requirement analysis

When writing job adverts, it shouldn’t start with a blank piece of paper.

How can you begin your copy without a full understanding of who you’re looking to attract?

Our Co-Founder Tim Cazemage has the answers.

“What makes the best possible job advert and best possible outcome?

I believe it starts with taking a detailed requirement analysis.

This is where I believe job advert writing actually starts!

As Sales Director at InfraView, I spend most of my week speaking to existing and new customers within the Managed Services and IT Solutions Provider space.

Having worked with the top UK solution providers, I’ve developed a system for creating job adverts which attract the specific cloud talent businesses need.

I think it’s absolutely critical, before even looking at a job description or writing a job advert, to take a detailed requirement analysis. This means delving deep into the requirements and responsibilities of the role, as well as culture and personality fit.

That needs to be from the hiring manager, whether that be a technical director or at least someone who operates within the technical role that can actually provide detailed information around cloud technology, certifications, duties and responsibilities.

Ideally this should be someone who is living and breathing that role currently, or at least someone who is very hands on within the team that they’re looking to hire into.

Job adverts are great, but I believe the best and most effective examples start with a detailed requirement analysis.

Technical skills and cloud experience are important, but you could be using an old job specification, or it could be written by someone who is non-technical or not operating in that particular role.

It’s the recruitment consultants job as a specialist that operates within that space to really dig deep, to ask the right questions to understand what’s going to work, what’s going to make the biggest impact in that team in the short, medium and long term.

Don’t start with a blank piece of paper. Begin your cloud job adverts with a detailed requirement analysis.”

Write job adverts that champion diversity

A key issue in the technology industry is championing diversity and increasing representation across development teams.

Whilst these issues cannot simply be solved by writing job adverts in a specific way, there are ideas individual business’ can employ to attract a more diverse pool of candidates.

Will Martin has some great insights into what cloud IT solutions providers can do.

“An unconscious gender bias could mean that you miss out on the ideal candidate for your role.

There are five areas to work on to quickly improve your job adverts to promote and champion diversity.

1. Simplify your criteria

A Hewlett Packard report recently found that men will apply to job adverts if they meet 60% of the qualifications and requirements, whereas women will only apply if they meet nearly all of the required attributes. An extensive list of requirements could contribute to a fall in female applicants.

2. Publicise your values

State your commitments to inclusive and dynamic working environments. Promote your commitment to diversity in making all applicants feel welcome and supported.

3. Check your vocabulary

Research by Textio has shown that language in cloud job adverts can influence people’s decision to apply. Try to refrain from using words that may have a masculine tone such as “active, “competitive”, “dominate”, “decisive” “fearless” and “objective”. These are often considered to be more masculine. Words such as “community”, “dependable”, “responsible”, “committed”, “empathetic” and “supportive” are reported to have a more feminine tone and may attract more female applicants.

4. Diversify your proof-reading team

Before the job advert goes out, make sure the staff tasked with proof-reading job advert copy represent different demographics and listen to their opinions and input.

5. Diversify your interviewing team

Ensure you are involving wherever possible different demographics of staff throughout the interview process. This will show your commitment to promoting diversity and champion your already publicised values within your job advert copy and across your marketing channels.

Increasing diversity within the Cloud & IT infrastructure space is a crucial step for UK-based solution providers. Changing how you write your job adverts and interviewing process will help you take a step forward.

Conclusion

Writing is easy.

Writing effectively towards hiring objectives can be a little trickier.

Implementing strategies to increase the effectiveness of your cloud job adverts will help you to improve your brand’s standing when looking for talent.

Beginning your job advert writing process with a detailed requirement analysis will help to hone the necessary attributes for applicants, and help you to build stronger, more connected teams.

Changing the way you write job adverts can help you to champion diversity and women in tech, and help you to attract a greater range of demographics in your hiring process.

Need help today?

Give us a call on 020 3617 1040 or drop us an email at hello@infraview.co.uk.