Writing a Job Advertisement
A well-written job advertisement is a marketing pitch to potential candidates to draw interest in your job posting. Think of the reader of the job advertisement as your potential customer, and the job is your product. The following information is based on the Job Card in PageUp. Each section provides guidance and best practices on how to write the best adverstisement for your job.
Make sure the Title of the job reflects the university title. This is the title that will be advertised. The Position Title is a reflection of the position and classification in Banner.
The Advertising Summary in the Job Card is your opportunity to grab a candidate’s attention. This content is the hook to grab the reader’s attention and will be the first thing the reader sees. The Advertising Summary should be clear, concise, and catchy! This is NOT a summary of your position and is limited to 250 characters.
The Advertisement Text is the body of your advertisement. A template has been created in order for all posted Virginia Tech jobs to be consistent in appearance and branding. The “Generate Description” button will populate the Advertisement Text with information from the Job Card.
The Job Description should clearly highlight your department/management area and the overall duties of the job. This should include the main duties of the position, but should not be an all-encompassing summary of every responsibility for the position.
Required Qualifications are what candidates must have in order to be considered or interviewed for a position.
Preferred Qualifications are additional qualifications that your ideal candidate will have, such as previous experience with a certain program or software.
Pay Band information should reflect the pay band determined by Human Resources (if applicable). If you have a defined salary range, you may include it under Salary Information, or you may opt to write “Commensurate with experience” if you salary is defined by the candidate’s level of expertise and experience.
The Review Date is when you will begin reviewing candidate applications for your position.
Additional Information may include any information that your applicant needs when applying for the position. For example, if you wish to provide an email address the applicant can contact you at if there are additional questions . Please note that the pre-populated conviction check language must stay in the Advertisement Text under Additional Information and should never be deleted.
A job may require that candidates submit additional documents or need supplemental questions added to the application, which can be mandatory or optional to complete the application. Anything supplemental to the application should be identified before sourced. Work with your HR Representative for job application questions.