Good advertising copywriters are very expensive. A direct mail piece, written by a real professional, can cost as much as $10,000 per page. The right two words, penned by a real advertising copywriter, can cost millions. Advertising agencies know this. It’s odd, we think, that these skills and prices aren’t a part of our industry.

When a job hunter reaches a job ad online, he or she will encounter something like this:

The xxxxxxx Candy Factory, a xxxxx Company, and a leader in the children’s confectionery market, is seeking a qualified professional for its manufacturing facility.

This position coordinates and implements assigned projects from initial cost estimating through installation, start-up and debugging; recommends projects to improve plant operations, safety and reduce operating costs; works with AutoCAD, computerized purchasing and budgeting, and all departments in a manufacturing setting. Supervise, as required by project activity, contractors, in-house mechanics, draftspersons, outside vendors/consultants.

A BS in Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, 3-7 years of applicable experience in a manufacturing environment, and computer proficiency a must.

xxxxxxx offers a competitive salary, opportunity for advancement, and a benefits package that includes: medical/dental/vision/hospital life, STD/LTD, 40l(k) plan, bonus, tuition reimbursement, pension plan and more.

Yawn!

After consuming a dozen or so (out of thousands) descriptions just like this one, the typical job hunter simply starts applying blindly to any company that comes close. It’s easy to send thousands of resumes through the internet. The job hunt, driven by slothful job ads, results in a huge pile of not-necessarily related resumes.

Whose fault is it?

There is plenty of blame to go around. Any recruiter who doesn’t work to polish the job ad to a precise solicitation is a fool. Any job ad distribution service that doesn’t offer help is a waste of money. Any agency that doesn’t insist that job ads are well written and compelling is cheating its customers.

Effectiveness is always a question of the right investment at the right point. Understanding how to write the right job ad for a particular job board is the most expensive part of online recruiting.

While the world is berginning to focus on the experience of the candidate, scant attention is being paid to this root cause of the resume overflow and bad candidate experiences. Proper attention to the job ad should both reduce the flow of errant resumes and improve the candidate’s experience.