On the job market, there are two categories of offer: generic and personalised. The former never attract qualified candidates, while the latter do. When you think about it, this is not surprising. How can you ask talented people to be original in their applications when the company itself makes no effort to make its job offer stand out from the rest?

And yet, with 91% of candidates turning to this tool, it's in organizations' own best interests to take care with their advertisements. But how can they do this? What tips and best practices can you put in place to make your job offers more attractive?

1- No job offer without a candidate persona

To attract new prospects and customers, marketing professionals use a user approach. The idea? Draw up a portrait of the target customer and personalize the marketing pitch. Companies that have no trouble recruiting use the same marketing techniques.

So it's a good idea to start by defining the persona of your ideal candidate. Specifically, what is their personality? What are their soft skills? What are their expectations of the job and working conditions? What are the main problems they encounter in their job search? What are his past experiences?

The answers to these questions will serve as guidelines for writing your job ad (keywords, tone, etc.). And when it comes to drawing up your candidate persona, don't stay in your own corner! Get in touch with the manager and the team, who will be able to provide you with relevant information.

2- Specify the recruitment context

"Market leader", "fast-growing structure", "rewarding experience". These generalities are used by too many companies, much to the disappointment of candidates. And understandably so. After all, why should they respond to your job offer rather than that of your competitor, when your advertisements are so similar?

To differentiate yourself, we advise you to present the context of your recruitment. Be specific: are you planning to develop a new product? Conquering a new market? Are you in the midst of departmental restructuring? Contextual information helps candidates understand what's behind your recruitment, so they can better plan ahead.

3- Opt for a dynamic introduction

The first few lines of your job offer are decisive. If you grab the candidate's attention, he'll read on. If you don't, they'll move on to another ad in a matter of seconds. Here again, why not use marketing techniques? For example, instead of starting with a presentation of your company, use questions aimed at candidates to help them understand the position and the company.

Let's say you're a menswear company recruiting a content creator. The following questions might be a good start:

• Are you passionate about men's fashion?

• Are "made in France" and eco-responsibility essential prerequisites for you?

• Do you have a knack for finding the right words?

• Are you curious about the latest innovations in communications?

• Do you like to manage and steer your projects independently?

As you'll have understood, the important thing is to proceed in the opposite way, seducing the candidate through your interest in them, rather than (coldly) telling them who you are and implying that it's up to them to seduce you.

4- Talk about remuneration, but not just any old way

Some companies skirt around the subject of remuneration by indicating "salary to be negotiated" or "remuneration according to profile". Beware of the backlash! In fact, 9 out of 10 candidates want to know the salary before applying for a job.

In addition to ignoring the expectations of talented people, this choice risks tarnishing your employer brand. For candidates, specifying that salary is "negotiable" or "according to profile" is like saying "if we can pay you a slingshot, we will". It's also a warning sign of a lack of objectivity. Indeed, if you're not in a position to estimate a remuneration range for the position to be filled, on what criteria is the remuneration based? The candidate's head?

5- Detail the tasks associated with the job

A sales rep knows exactly what his job entails. He doesn't need you to remind him of the missions associated with his job, as a student might find when poking around on a career site. The candidate is looking for details. In other words, they need you to explain what a salesperson's job in YOUR company entails.

Back to context. What are the job's objectives/projects? Who will the employee be dealing with? What are the work tools and rituals? The more specific you are, the more candidates will be able to project themselves.

6- Link to the career website

Your ad must be of reasonable length. You can't say or show everything. However, you can link to your career site to find out more about yourself.

What are your values? Who are your employees? What are your offices like? What are your HR benefits? With a career site, candidates will be able to judge whether they're a good fit for your company.

7- Communicate the stages of the recruitment process

Last but not least, candidates need to know about the different stages in your recruitment process. This is an important criterion, since 57% of them would decline an offer if the recruitment process took too long.

How many interviews will they have to go through? Who will they meet? How long will the recruitment process last? Will they have to carry out a case study? These are all answers that need to appear on your advert and your career site.

After all, there's no secret. If you want your job advert to attract qualified profiles, you have to put yourself in their shoes. "What would you like to read in a job ad? That's the question...