The 5-minute job advert audit: are your listings actually working?

Most job adverts are written to sound good. The problem is that sounding good and performing well have become two very different things.

Run your next job advert through this quick checklist before it goes live. Five minutes now can make a meaningful difference to who finds it and whether they apply.

1) Does the title reflect how candidates actually search?

Internal job titles often don't match real-world search language. "Client Solutions Partner" might mean something internally, but candidates are searching for "Account Manager." If your title doesn't match how people search, you're invisible before the race has even started.

Fix it: Use the title candidates type, not the one your client uses internally. You can add context in the body.

2) Is the salary stated clearly?

"Competitive salary" tells a candidate nothing. And it tells a search engine or AI tool even less. Roles with a defined salary range consistently outperform those without one, both in click-through and in application quality.

Fix it: Include a range. Even a broad one ("£45,000–£55,000 depending on experience") is better than a placeholder.

3) Is the location and working pattern explicit?

"Hybrid" means nothing without specifics. Three days remote? Four days in the office? Which office? Candidates need to be able to picture the reality of the role before they commit to applying.

Fix it: State the city, name the office pattern, and be specific. "London-based, hybrid (2 days in office)" does the job.

4) Are responsibilities and requirements in separate sections?

A single dense paragraph requires effort to read, and machines can't reliably extract information from it. Clear section headings (role overview, key responsibilities, what you'll need, location and salary) help candidates scan quickly and help AI tools summarise your listing accurately.

Fix it: Break it into sections. It takes five minutes and immediately improves readability for everyone.

5) Is it clear who's advertising this role?

"Our client is a leading organisation in their field" gives a candidate nothing to trust. AI discovery systems build profiles of recruitment brands. If it's unclear who posted a job, that listing is less likely to be surfaced.

Fix it: Name your agency. A single sentence is enough: "This role is being advertised by [Agency Name], a specialist recruiter in [sector] across [region]."

6) Would you apply based on this advert?

This is the honest one.

Read it back as a candidate who knows nothing about the role. Is it clear what the job actually involves? Does it feel worth applying for? Would you trust the source?

If the answer to any of those is uncertain, the advert isn't ready.

The bigger picture

These six checks won't fix everything on their own. They sit within a wider approach to candidate attraction that covers job architecture, website structure, technical optimisation, and how AI discovery is reshaping the way candidates find roles in 2026.

We've written the whole thing up in a new playbook - practical, direct, and free to download.

Download The Modern Playbook for Candidate Attraction