By Helen Scullion Assoc. CIPD | 4 minute read
The skills shortage in the trades is real. But for many small trade businesses, the bigger problem isn’t that good people don’t exist. It’s that the way they’re advertising and presenting themselves as an employer isn’t giving those people a reason to apply.
If your last round of recruitment left you with a handful of unsuitable applications, or worse, almost none at all, the job advert and what sits behind it probably need a look.
Here’s what makes the difference.
Key facts at a glance
- The trades face a genuine skills shortage, but many businesses lose good applicants before they even apply, because of how their job adverts are written.
- Good candidates research potential employers before applying. Your website, social media and job advert all contribute to the first impression.
- Salary is no longer the only factor candidates consider. Culture, work-life balance and development opportunities all influence where people apply.
- A job advert that reflects your actual workplace, honest, direct and specific, consistently outperforms a generic template.
Why your job advert might be working against you
Your job advert is usually the first real impression a candidate gets of your business as an employer. Before they visit your website, speak to anyone in the team, or consider whether the role suits them, they read the advert. If it’s vague about pay, light on benefits, and written in a way that could apply to any business in any town, it gives a skilled candidate no reason to choose you over anyone else.
In a competitive market for skilled workers, generic doesn’t cut it. The best applicants have options. They’re reading your advert alongside others and making a quick judgement about whether it’s worth their time.
What good candidates are actually looking for
- A clear picture of the role, including realistic expectations of the work and the environment
- Honest information about pay, rather than ‘competitive salary’ with no further detail
- Benefits beyond the statutory minimum, or at least a clear description of what you do offer
- A sense of what the business is like to work for, its culture, its people, and its standards
- A clear, simple process for applying that doesn’t require a lengthy online form before they’ve decided they’re interested
These things don’t require a big budget. They require thinking about the candidate’s perspective rather than just the business’s convenience.
