Job Advertisements

Purpose of Job Advertisements

Job advertisements present a powerful marketing device for organizations. Through such advertisements, organizations can communicate multiple messages to a variety of audiences. A variety of conceptual frameworks have been used to describe job advertisements as communication mechanisms. For example, the act of placing job advertisements can be seen as an organization providing outsiders with a signal of its strength and growth. On the other hand, the placement of such ads can be seen from an impression management perspective as an attempt to communicate the values, or espoused values, that make an organization a unique business partner and employer. In this sense, organizations may place such ads with an idea of how they should be perceived by internal (e.g., employees) and external (e.g., job seekers) stakeholders. Job advertisements can also be seen as rational acts of an organization constantly balancing labor supply and demand. To this end, organizations not only place ads in papers, but also place ads in targeted professional outlets based on demand for specific knowledge and skills. Regardless of placement or intent, the primary purpose of a job advertisement is to attract job seekers to employment opportunities and motivate them to take active steps in pursuit of an available job.

The framework used to create most job advertisements either implicitly or explicitly includes four informational dimensions: organizational identity, human resource need, information needed to fill the need, and information that allows an applicant to contact the organization. Employers first must describe their organizational identity, or the values on which their business practices are based and that make them unique from other firms. Organizations can choose to describe themselves in a variety of ways but often employ more symbolic language to add a richness [Page 376]to job advertisements. Job seekers reviewing such advertisements can gain insight into the defining features of an organization. Research suggests that from this language, readers extract a perception of an organization's personality. To the extent that a job seeker's personality fits with that of an organization, employment pursuit should follow.

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