Updated July 2024.
Your job advert is likely to be one of the first interactions you have when recruiting.
Young people looking for their first job will be inexperienced in common recruitment processes and a job advert that is confusing can knock their confidence.
Read on to find out what young people think of the job descriptions they see and discover how to write a youth friendly job advert.
What research tells us about job adverts
In the 2023 Youth Voice Census, we asked young people why they did not apply for a job after reading the job advert/description. We found that:
- 48.1% said the role asked for higher qualifications than they had
- 42.2% thought the job description was not well written and hard to understand
- 41.5% thought the person specification had too many requirements
- 21.4% thought it did not feel inclusive of young people
These are some of the most common concerns amongst young people when it comes to applying for jobs and are also things that you as an employer can alleviate. Read below to find top tips.
How to write a job advert
A job advert should include this essential information:
- The job title: a job title should be accurate and reflect the jobs responsibilities
- The salary: salary should include details of salary brackets, increases, or bonuses where applicable
- Job location: this should include all locations the potential employee would need to know, such as their office, if they may need to work offsite, or home if the job is remote
- Flexible working options: include applicable details such as the ability to work school hours or work remotely
- Working hours: include the days per week, hours per day and total hours per week (e.g. Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm, 37.5 hours per week)
- Job responsibilities: use bullet point to clearly state role duties
- Required qualities: these are essential education, experience or personal qualities someone needs to be successful
- Desired qualities: these are the education, experience or personal qualities that are not essential, but would be useful and put the applicant ahead of others
- Information about the employer: what your company does, what the team the role belongs in does, and how big the team is
Writing job descriptions for young people
To ensure your job advert is inclusive for young people entering employment, here are 6 top tips for writing a job advert:
1. Review your recruitment priorities
Identify what is most important to your organisation for each role by considering what is required and what is desirable. Review your requirement for experience and qualifications, and remember that young people getting their first job are likely to have less workplace experience, but big potential.
Further reading: Should You Drop Grade Requirements On Early Career Job Vacancies?
2. Remove barriers for inclusive recruitment
Consider how your job descriptions encourage applications from young people who face barriers and disadvantages.
For example, to avoid excluding young people with disabilities, it’s key to avoid assumptions, provide reasonable adjustments, and show that you have accessible working spaces. To avoid excluding young people from diverse backgrounds, you could share information about networks within your organisation or share case studies of successful employees.
Whether you’re aiming to be more inclusive to young people in general or to specific groups of people you feel would face barriers during your recruitment, remember that your image means a lot. To know that we’ll fit in, we all want to see ourselves reflected in your company, from the words in your job descriptions to the images on your social media account or website.
3. Test your job description with young people
Test examples of your job descriptions with young employees, or a focus group in a youth group or school/college setting. This will allow you to work out the kinks and see your job descriptions from a different perspective.
Further reading: Working With Schools: 10 Tips For Employers
4. Avoid jargon
Keep it simple and avoid using corporate jargon, acronyms or technical language that make your job description confusing. Young people may also be aware of red flags in your language. For example, saying that you provide a ‘competitive salary’ without actually stating what they’ll receive could suggest to the reader that the salary may actually be low compared to similar roles in the industry, but you’re hiding it.
Want to read more?
You can explore more recruitment best practice with Youth Employment UK Membership, which gets you access to an extensive range of employer resources. Become a Member to read content like:
