Improving your aviation job advert response

We have thousands of aviation professionals registered and are looking for a job. But we also have hundreds of recruiters looking for candidates, so to get the best response, make your advert stand out. Here are our top tips on making sure your roles get noticed and that you attract the right people, saving you time and money.

Include a salary in your advert

By not including a salary range when you post an advert, you could be eliminating potential candidates. On Aviation Job Search, the job postings that include salary information receive 32% more applications. Jobseekers will often seek a new position for a higher paid salary, so your job advert needs to be attractive in order for them to consider applying. By posting a salary range, you will also be safe in the knowledge that each applicant’s salary expectations have already been met.

It would be a waste of time for both the jobseeker and recruiter to proceed through several rounds of interviewing, only for them to drop out at the 11th hour if the pay grade is deemed too low.

Keep it short (but not too short)

The perfect length of a job advert isn’t an exact science but studies have found that job adverts with 150 words or less receive more applications. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t include relevant information – just be as concise as possible, ensure the jobseeker understands the role and expectations, and focus on capturing imagination with the words you do use.

Jobseekers spend approximately 30 seconds reviewing a job post so it’s crucial that you get to the point quickly. It’s also worth remembering that many jobseekers will view job adverts on their mobile devices so information should be laid out in a neat and engaging way for it to be easily digested.

Post your job ad at the right time

The best time to post a job is when more jobseekers are active on our site, so they appear at the top of a jobseekers search. We find that on Aviation Job Search, more jobseekers are active earlier in the week, between 2pm and 3pm.

Posting at the right time gives you an advantage over competing recruiters as jobseekers are more likely to see your ad at the right time. Remember, your vacancy will be emailed to candidates signed up for job alerts, so you get an advantage here too.

Use an effective job title

A job title should use standard industry language so it can easily be searched for. Avoid long, fancy or overly creative job titles as these won’t generate you any more views or applications. It’s also wise to steer clear of abbreviations and acronyms for the same reason. Avoid job titles which imply gender, age or race to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Examples of good job title descriptions

• B787 First Officer
• B1 Licensed Engineer

Examples of bad job title descriptions

• B787 First Officer
• First Officers for SAAB 340 - Long Term Paid Employment (Self Sponsored Training)

Talk about your company culture

Jobseekers aren’t just looking for a job these days, they’re looking for a career that aligns their values and beliefs. They’re looking for signs that they will feel happy and fulfilled if they take the position. By including a short section about the company culture, and the types of people that already work there, jobseekers can envisage if they would be a good fit for your business.

For example, if your airline was more formal, you could write, “When you join us, you’ll be living up to the highest standards of professionalism and safety standards.

Only jobseekers with superior flying skills and a great attitude will make the grade.” If your airline was less formal, you could write, “We love innovative, talented and fast-acting people who hate waffle and love getting stuck into hard work.” It doesn’t need to be too long as jobseekers can search for further information on your careers page – just make sure the information matches!

Provide information about the process

Understanding what happens after their application is very important to jobseekers; if they are going to take the time to apply, they would like to be aware of time scales and what is further expected of them. Providing some basic interview tips is also important as candidates have a lot of questions about how to prepare for a potential interview. Briefly outlining these tips will also save you time going back and forth with questions later on.    

Stand out from the crowd

On a busy job board, you need to stand out from the other job adverts to increase interest in your role. More interest equals more relevant applications. You need to think, what would make candidates want to apply for this job?

This could be:

• A competitive salary range to entice jobseekers who have a specific salary in mind
• Perks which aren’t related to a basic salary. This could be bonuses, flexible working hours, overtime or an exciting company culture.
• Clear information, describing exactly what they are looking for. Vague descriptions will only attract substandard applicants.
• Enthusiasm in your tone of voice. Use stimulating words to capture the jobseekers imagination. Get the jobseeker excited about the prospect of working for your company!

Target the right audience

Niche job boards mean a more targeted approach that you might not get with ‘one size fits all’ generic boards. Typically, niche job sites attract a more targeted pool of job seekers with specific skills and experience, which means you are more likely to find candidates who are a good fit for your role. In this respect, applications are almost self-filtering as they appeal directly to specialists rather than generalists.

Niche job boards are often more cost-effective than generic ones, as they typically have lower fees and offer more targeted advertising options. Niche job boards can also offer valuable insights into industry trends and candidate preferences, which can help you optimise your recruitment strategy.

Plan ahead and save money

Don’t just buy ads for the roles you have today, buy them for the roles you might have tomorrow too. Our pricing is transparent and up-front meaning it’s easy to spread (and reduce) the cost of recruitment.

Any ads you buy, are good for the year, so when you have a role to advertise, think about what other roles or vacancies will be coming up soon - do you have seasonal variations and normally recruit in time for summer? Are there any retirements coming up? Are there signs departments are needing to expand anytime soon? Planning ahead will often save you money, and with recruitment it’s the same - normally bulk buying will save you money, even if it’s getting five ads instead of two.