Writing a recruitment advertisement

Articles about recruiting no longer seem to talk about whether to recruit on-line but, rather, assume most organizations already are recruiting online. Online recruiting can mean:

Posting career information on your organization's web site, see Your Web Presence.
Posting jobs on the largest job boards such as monster.com or careerbuilder.com.
Posting jobs on niche job posting sites, see Niche Sites.
Posting jobs on geographically specialized job sites.
Using social networking sites.
Data mining for information about top performers on the internet (although this may be contrary to the merit recruitment policy).
Writing a recruitment blog.

Job advertising may also mean advertising in newspapers. Although this form of advertising is not as common as it used to be, there are still situations that warrant advertising in a newspaper. This may depend on the type of position or the location of the position. If you are advertising a job in a location that is well served by a local newspaper, then that may be your best option for advertising. Or, if you are advertising a position traditionally recruited using newspaper advertising then, too, newspaper advertising may be your best option.

Some organizations have successfully used outdoor advertising on billboards and mass transit, while others have used radio advertising.

Many of the techniques for communicating a compelling message to interested top performers are similar to those methods of communication used when posting a job in the state system.

Whether online or in print, you may benefit from incorporating some marketing principles into your advertising campaign.

Determine the most compelling elements of the job and capitalize on them. It is important to be honest about the true nature of the job, but be aware of what you are emphasizing.
Determine the benefits to an employee working at your organization. This has been covered elsewhere, but suffice it to say that the benefits you describe can go beyond health insurance and vacation days.
Determine what differentiates your organization and/or this particular position from others like it. If the differentiating factors are positive, be sure to mention them in your advertising.
Prompt the person who reads the advertisement to action. Be sure to invite them to apply! You are not doing top performers a service by advertising this position — they are doing you a service by applying for it.
If your target audience is candidates both within and outside state government — and, if you're advertising outside of the state jobs web site — avoid assuming candidates have familiarity with the jobs and application processes unique to state government. Not everyone knows what a PD107 is, so be sure to include an explanation with the numbered title. If you will not consider any information not contained on the PD107, be sure to inform candidates who may be more accustomed to using resumes or CV's.
Align the position you are advertising with other, prestigious or interesting positions in the organization. An administrative assistant might be interested in working at an organization that hires the best engineers in the state, for example.
Be aware of cycles in recruitment advertising. Look at your historical data to see if you've gotten better or worse results when you advertise over a long, holiday weekend.
Include all the details such as the salary grade, salary range and directions for application.

Your efforts may be limited by budget and/or the medium you choose. It is hard to differentiate yourself in a 3-line text newspaper advertisement — but you can incorporate as many of these principles as possible.