School Advert Sheet

School Advert Sheet

Email:

Please retain a copy for your own personal records.

Please note any field with * is mandatory

School Name *
Job Title *
Salary *
Allowances *
Hours *
Term Time Only * / Yes No
Grade (all support staff) *
Spinal Column Point *
Type of contract * / Permanent Fixed Term
Fixed Term – Length of period
Interview date (if known)
Closing Date *
Advert Text* You can find guidance on writing adverts on pages 3 to 5 of this document.
Do you require the sentence below to be included in the advert text * Yes No
Informal enquiries and visits to the school are welcomed.
Do you want the Teacher Application form attached to this vacancy * Yes No
Note to HR – if yes, please put the following paragraph in the advert text:
Please complete the application form below and return directly to the school before the closing date.
Safeguarding Statements (Do not delete):
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
This role requires an enhanced DBS.
School website address *
Contact details *
Any other relevant information *

HR Pay will aim to have the advert live within 2 working days of the completed form being received.

For guidance on writing adverts please see pages 3-5 below.

Writing a recruitment advert that will attract

Firstly, the less you say the better. Unfortunately no-one’s going to read your recruitment advert as much as you do. The vast majority of people scan ads, looking for key points that will jump out at them.

An effectively written advert:

• Attracts
• Interests
• Filters
• Persuades
• Inspires action

Golden rules of advert writing

Be friendly and informal

Who wants to work for an old fashioned, unadventurous organisation? If you write in a formal way that’s exactly how people will view you as an employer. Take a more conversational tone, your reader wants to understand the personality of the organisation. Try to avoid words like ‘therefore’, ‘hence’ etc and always speak in the first person- ‘you’ll’ instead of ‘the ideal candidate’.

Repetition is boring

It’s easy to use the same words over and over and over and over, the point is starting every sentence with ‘You will’ can be difficult to avoid but try varying your start sentences.

Keep it short and snappy

Remember, people have very short attention spans. The purpose of your advert is to elicit a response, that’s all – nothing more. So keep your text short, punchy and to the point. You should be able to produce an effective advert using 50 – 150 words. Use short sentences. More than fifteen words in a sentence reduces the clarity of the meaning. After drafting your communication, seek out commas and 'and's, and replace with full-stops.

It’s not me it’s you

The most important rule - what you want doesn’t matter. When you advertise it’s all about what you are offering. It’s all about what you can give your audience that they don’t already have. That’s what’s going to make them reply, not a list of demands. The use of ‘you’ involves the reader and helps them to visualise themselves in the role.

Content of the advert

The processing of the advert automatically identifies who we are as an employer, how much someone is going to get paid and how to apply. Job Descriptions/Person Specifications are attached to the advert so there is no need to replicate the role requirements in the advert.

Concentrate on:

• Context – Provide some context to the job - e.g. advise if they will be joining a newly formed team, the size and scope of the operation, any new service developments etc

• Role requirements – Keep this very brief, all of the detail is in the Job Description and Person Specification, highlight the essential skills only.

• Opportunities – Emphasise the opportunities associated with the role or the organisation e.g. career development opportunities, any new, innovative or exciting challenges.

• Value of applicant – Stress the applicants value to the organisation e.g. their potential to influence outcomes, how their contribution will be measured etc

• Unique selling points – Highlight what makes your job and organisation special. People want to work for special employers and are generally not motivated to seek work with boring, run-of-the-mill, ordinary, unadventurous organisations.

Example adverts - ‘before and after’:

After we apply the simple rules

What to avoid in adverts:

To avoid discrimination reference to age, gender, race or sexual orientation should not ordinarily be included in any advert.

Age

Even asking for a certain level of experience from candidates could be deemed as discriminating against someone who hasn't had the opportunity to gain that experience as they are too young. There are plenty of ways of rephrasing your job advert, such as asking for candidates who have demonstrated a certain task, but putting a number of years on how long they have taken to achieve that task would be discriminatory.

Gender

There can on occasion be a genuine occupational need for an employee to be of a certain gender, such as within single sex institutions like hospitals and prisons. Advice should be sought from HR Payif it is felt there is need to specify a specific gender.

Race

Even where language is an important part of the role you must state that someone must be able to converse in the language rather than being from a particular country, for example 'Italian speaking' rather than 'Italian'.

For further advice on advert writing please contact HR Pay.

* Mandatory field / 1 of 5 / Ref No: F89
Version: 4.0
Version Date: 22/05/2012