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The Wize Way
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The Wize Way
Episode 197: Your Job Ad Is Costing You Great Candidates (Here's How to Fix It)
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Avoid the mistake of posting a job ad before you know what you are actually looking for, or you will either attract the wrong people entirely or watch great candidates talk themselves out of applying before they even reach out.
In this episode of The Wize Way Podcast, Danny Bray breaks down exactly what makes a job ad work, and what quietly kills your chances of finding the right person before the process even begins.
✅ Why too much information in your job ad is driving the right candidates away before they apply
✅ The unrealistic expectations hiding in most accounting firm job ads, and how to set requirements that attract quality over volume
✅ Why prioritising software experience over core skills is one of the most common and costly mistakes firm owners make
✅ How a clear, specific job title changes who sees your ad and who applies
✅ The six elements every strong job ad needs to stand out in a crowded market
✅ Why an advert video is no longer optional, and how to create one that works across multiple roles over time
✅ How transparency around salary, flexibility and working arrangements saves you from wasting time on the wrong conversations
If you are tired of posting ads and getting either nobody or the wrong people, this episode gives you a practical framework to write job ads that attract the right candidates from the very first line.
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Welcome And Show Purpose
SPEAKER_00Welcome to The Wise Way, the show for accounting and bookkeeping firm owners who want more time, profit, and freedom, and a business that can run without them. I'm Brett Ward, your host, and each week we deep dive into the real stories, proven strategies, and battle-tested tools from successful firm owners just like you. Our wise mentors want to share their journey of how they've scaled and systemized their way to freedom so you can too. If you're stuck in the grind or you're ready to scale smarter, this is your blueprint. Let's get into the episode.
Why Job Ads Fail Candidates
SPEAKER_02Today's topic is about job descriptions, um, you know, how to go about doing a good job ad that's going to attract the right people. Um, but as you know, today is very much an interactive call. Feel free to take yourselves off mute at any point and ask any questions or put it in the in the chat. Um, and yeah, later on we might have a breakout room depending on how many people we get for the session. Otherwise, we'll just stay here and you know, answer any questions that you guys have. It's kind of good, you probably already know this about me. I kind of like having just the main session where people can ask questions because there could be firms who, you know, another firm could ask the same question that they were already thinking. So it's good to bounce ideas off each other and everything. Um, but yeah, so I guess we'll we'll get straight into it. Um with job descriptions, some people love creating them, some people don't. It really just depends on on you on your personality.
SPEAKER_03But um I find that someone Hi everybody.
SPEAKER_02Hi, Sean. Um so with with uh firms, I've sort of lost my train of thought here, with firms who aren't great at you know creating job descriptions, I find that they tend to put too much information into the job description. So it's sometimes it's like two or three pages. Um, if you think of it from a candidate's point of view, that's not what a candidate wants to see, because I hate to break it to people. They're not just applying for your job, they're applying for lots of jobs. So they need to, they'll be going through so many different job ads. So obviously it's it's your job to make sure that your ad is standing out. So um I also have firm owners who sort of say, you know, the the more the merrier we want all the applicants, but what you don't want is 200 plus applicants coming through because who has time to be filtering through every single job, like every single regime and and and candidate and everything. Um, you'd rather have, you know, maybe 10 or 20 applicants that come through with the right experience than having all these different people come through. Uh, I think if your job ad is tailored to everyone and everyone feels like they're qualified to apply, that's that's not a good thing. You might think it is, but it's really not. Um before I sort of get into things, I just want to ask Christy when, and this isn't a wise talent sales pitch or anything, but I yeah, Christy, before you started using wise talent, what what were you like with your job descriptions? What were they like, you know, before and after?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I'm sure I had them. Uh it was more I think for me, I honestly only hired through word of mouth because I had absolutely no idea how to hire openly. I don't even think I did a seek
Avoid Too Many Unqualified Applicants
SPEAKER_01ad before I used wise talent. It was just someone knew someone who knew someone and they were available. And that was pretty much the recruitment process. Oh, yep. Such and such says you're good. Do you want to work 10 hours a week? It was it was not a good strategy at all. I used the term strategy very loosely, and then I I learned the wise talent way and the recommended way, and we've got great resources in the wise vault to help with that. And uh yeah, that's what really gave me the confidence to actually do it properly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, that's good. And I did not realize that though, that you didn't even like create job descriptions at the start.
SPEAKER_01Um no, chat GPT wasn't really a thing, so uh it would have been all on me, and then no, no chance.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's the thing with chat GPT these days, you can just you can put in exactly what you want. Like you can just say, I I need this, this, and that, this is who I'm looking for. Um, create me something, basically. Um but yeah, so something that you don't want to do with job ads is you know, there's a lot of unrealistic expectations that people have, like that they're looking for the unicorn. Um, and I mean we all want to find that unicorn when we're hiring, but it's just they're they're very, very rare, hence hence the name. Um, but you know, it's uh if you're looking for, let's say senior client manager, uh yes, you want them to have uh eight plus years of experience, but if you're if you're looking for an intermediate or a senior and you want them to have like 10 plus years of experience, that's not that's not possible, especially if you're looking for someone offshore. Uh sorry, I shouldn't say it's not possible, it is possible, but it it's very rare. Um, you need to have more of a realistic approach and uh and mindset. So for a senior, I'd be saying uh five plus years of experience, intermediate three uh two to three plus years of experience, or even four. Um yeah, you need to be realistic with what you're what you're actually posting. Um and then also uh software. So I I have some clients who say to me that they need to have um candidates need to have specific software experience, which is great, that's all good. But when you when you're picking software experience over skills experience, which I have had clients do, that's not good because you know the software can be trained, especially if you do find someone who who is a fast learner. Um, you'd rather them have the technical skills than have the software skills. And Chrissy, I'm gonna pick on you again because I know that you you did you went through this experience, didn't you, with a candidate who didn't have experience with a specific software, but then turns out they were a really fast learner?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think that's the thing of you know, remembering the the core things that we're looking for when recruiting, it's it's not
From Word Of Mouth To Hiring
SPEAKER_01about the software specific. And you'll hear a lot at WIES about creating extraordinary systems for ordinary people. If your internal training systems are good enough, then the person will be able to adapt to any software. It's actually, you know, their energy, their responsiveness, their communication, and you know, if if you can see that they're genuinely eager. So we used to think that they needed to have experience in our softwares because we thought they were so great but difficult. But it's not. We've created really great SOPs and we have a very clear training program for all new team members, whether they've used the software or not, so that they're fresh and understand the way we operate. And sometimes it's harder if someone's learned a software the wrong way, it's harder to change the way they use it in your firm. So it's not always a negative that they don't have as much exposure to your systems that you have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's why, even with like um, this is a little bit off topic, but still on topic. Um, sometimes firm owners aren't sure if they should be hiring a junior or, you know, a senior, which I know are two completely different roles, but they're just not sure which path to go down. Um, and sometimes it is actually better to hire a junior because that way you can train them in in the things that you need them to do. Whereas with seniors, sometimes they can be stuck in their ways because they've been doing something um for so long with a particular firm and then trying to uh, and especially if they haven't been doing it right with that particular firm, when they join your firm, it it can be a little bit tricky to sort of go, okay, we need to readjust and you need to learn a lot more um yeah, different things. But yeah, so there's that side of things, but then there's also um industry experience. So this would be specifically for more admin assistants. So a lot of clients who are hiring admin assistants tell me that they want someone who has, you know, uh accounting, uh, like a they've worked in an accounting firm. Um they're definitely out there because we're we've hired for them, Chris would know we've hired for them many times. Um, but you don't want to get stuck on that because they're not they're not accountants or they're not bookkeepers. You just need them to be able to do the work. So um not necessarily have that that knowledge because that can be trained. Um, you know, if they're an admin assistant, they're going to be filing things and they need to have you know data entry experience and things like that. Um, you want to be testing them on communication, um, attention to detail, all that side of side of things, more than you know, do they have experience working in an accounting firm? Because that's sort of irrelevant.
Set Realistic Experience Requirements
SPEAKER_02Um, and yeah, Chris, how many times have we come across a client who who's rejected a really great candidate because of that?
SPEAKER_03I think it's really a lot, Danny. A lot of them were really hesitant to consider someone without public practice experience. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it's sad because add to that too, Danny, because I feel like a few of the firms that I'm working with have been looking for admin reception team members and and they've not had as much success in the past because they're not looking for the core strengths of an admin person. They're not looking for the communication, the organizational skills, you know, processes. Are they competent in those areas as opposed to having had experience in accounting or bookkeeping, or you know, they miss they miss the clues of the skills that they actually need in that role?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's exactly right. And it it's it is really sad because I mean, and with admins, um that they are you do tend to get the most applicants coming through. So that's where like the 100 plus applicants coming through. And if you're reject rejecting all of them because they don't have that industry experience, you're you're missing out. You yeah. Um, but the next one, and I feel like this one's a bit controversial because some people will be like, no, they need to have this experience, and other people will say it's fine, but um, leadership. So some firms or you know, some people will say that leadership can be taught, and then others will say, No, it's something that you have inside you. Um, now I've got to be honest, I'm the kind of person who thinks it it can be taught because Jamie actually taught me how to do that. Um, before before WISE, I was not great at it. Um, and we've got Chris here, so she can she can either say yes or no to this. She might turn around and say, actually, Danny, you're not that great. Um, but yeah, leadership is something that I think you can be. Um, if you've got the right manager, you can be taught how to do that. Um, and yeah, Christy, did you have any comments on that? Because you you might have a different opinion on that.
SPEAKER_01No, absolutely. I'd I the leader I am today is absolutely not the leader I was when I first started my business. And I'd had great employees in the past and and great people I admired, but I didn't know how they did it. I had no idea what leadership actually looked like. And, you know, I see such a key difference between managing and leading. And, you know, there's a beautiful part in Dr. Stephen Covey's Seven Habits, where he talks about the difference between a manager and a leader, that the manager just goes into the forest with their team and starts cutting down trees, but the leader actually goes up the top of the ladder and looks out for the best path and then directs the team to get the most out of it. And that was a big mindset shift for me to recognise that elevation of leadership, not just being the boss being in charge, actually leading my people from in front and then being able to lead from behind and teaching leadership skills in my own team members. So
Skills Beat Software Every Time
SPEAKER_01it definitely starts with the firm owner and then trickles down into the team, but it's it's possible, and you know, not to promember leadership summits too much, but they're fabulous because that's what we're really there to teach team members and firm owners about leadership because it it is a big gap in um you know what we learn. We're not taught it at school, we're not taught it at uni, we're not really taught it by our bosses when we first start in in practice. So it's definitely something we can learn and pass on to our team members.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's exactly right. Thanks, Christy. Um, and then so I mean, when we look at all that stuff that we've just sort of spoken about now with with what you should and shouldn't be putting in in job descriptions, um, what you'll find that if you if you don't have the right information in there, you will have candidates who will, what's the term, like self-reject themselves. They'll they'll look at the job ad and they'll be like, you know what, this I'm I'm not qualified for this. Um when in actual fact they may be qualified, especially if you do put something like 10 plus years of experience. Because, you know, you might have a great candidate who will look at that and go, Well, they're not even going to consider me because I've only got, you know, five, five, six plus years, but they may be super smart and they may have, you know, integrity. And as everyone would know, our number one thing is hire on integrity first. Um, they might have the right attitude and everything, but yeah, it that's why job descriptions are really important because you do want to make sure that you are selling the right things, you are promoting the right things. Um so something that you what you do actually want to promote is what they're they what they'll actually be doing. Um, and it starts with the actual title of the job ad. So if your job title isn't clear, that you know, if it says, I'm trying to think of an example. Oh, actually, my favorite one is um senior client manager. Now I hate to break it to everyone, but senior client manager isn't exclusive to accounting and bookkeeping. Um, every industry has senior client managers, so you need to be more specific. Um, so I what I tend to do is I I'll put like senior
Admin Hiring Beyond Industry Background
SPEAKER_02accountant slash client manager so they know that you know we're looking for someone who has that high level of accounting or bookkeeping experience, and then but also um they'll be doing client management as opposed to just client manager sort of thing. Um, yeah, that's really important, being really clear. If you are offering like a hybrid position, I'd put that in there as well because that will just attract more people, especially if they are looking for work from home or hybrid. Um but the other thing is, and I've seen job ads who put work from home, but then in the ad itself, they won't mention anything about that. And that can be quite confusing for candidates as well. Um, and some candidates won't apply at all, but it's really important to be transparent with people because you don't want to promote one thing and then you know, basically you're not actually offering it. Um, I've had someone who in the job ad itself, they said that it's work from home, but then they created a job ad video, um, like an advert video, and in that video they said that they wanted this person to move to the actual location because they'd want them to be coming into the office all the time. And that that's very confusing because you know you're promoting this as like in the actual description, you're promoting it that they can work from anywhere because it's work from home, but then in the actual video, you're telling them that you want them to move to your remote little town. Um, so yeah, you just gotta be really uh open and honest about what you what you want. Um, and then I I'd actually like to show you an like a job description, and this was, I'm not not gonna lie, this was actually from Chat GPT. I put in everything that I wanted and I asked it to to create something, and this is what it came came up with.
SPEAKER_03Um hopefully I'm sharing the right screen. Am I sharing the right screen, guys? Yes, business service accountant.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so this here is what I would classify as a good job description. So you you basically uh you're putting what you know that the actual title is, what you want them to what you're looking for. Um and then uh with the about the firm, uh you you don't want to be too uh generic. You know, yes, there's gonna be a little bit of, you know, um we're a great firm and and all that, but if you've got specific things, so like let's say your firm's won an award for something, um, I'd be putting it putting that in there. I know that Jamie, for example, he's I think he won an award for like the top 57th firm in Australia or the world or something. Um, so when we're doing job ads for him, we put that in there that it's an like he's got an award-winning firm. Um, and then uh the next thing is you know what you're actually offering because this is really important to candidates. They want to know what they're going to be offering. Um, it says here competitive salary. I personally like to put the actual salary range in there only because again, you want to be transparent. Um, the last thing you want is to have a great interview with someone, fall in love with them and be like, yes, this is the right candidate, and then find out that their salary expectation is way higher than what you what you had in mind. Um, so if you are very transparent from the start and you say this is the salary range, then they'll say, Okay, I'm gonna apply or I'm not gonna
Leadership Can Be Learned
SPEAKER_02apply. There's no, you know, that basically you b both of you will be on the same page. Um and then the next thing is what they'll actually be doing. And again, you want to be quite specific with this sort of stuff. You don't want to just write, you know, I'm trying to think of a an example right now. I should have created like a bad job description and that way you could see the difference between the two. Um but yeah, this is this is something that I would recommend. And I'm happy to send this across to people as well. If if you want this copy, just you put it in the chat and um and I'll send it across. Um, and then another thing is who this role will actually be for. So some some people actually put so who the role's for or who the role is suited to, and then also who this role isn't suited to, they'll actually put that in there as well. Um, that way people are really clear and they'll go, okay, you know what, this one's not for me, or or this one is for me, whatever it is. Um, but yeah, just putting that in there and then uh why this role is different. I think this is really important as well, because this is how it's going to make your your job ad stand out. Um and then that sort of leads me into uh the importance of uh job ad videos um and why they're important to do because uh and Christy, you would you would definitely know this. Uh well my view of everyone's changed. I can't see everyone. Hold on, there we go. I can see everyone again. Um so with the advert videos, uh they are important because this is how you sort of you sell the the role, you sell your firm, um, you get people to go, oh, you know what? I like you know the the sound of this you know this position, I like um what's going on with this firm, so I'm going to apply. And Christy, was there a difference between before you started doing the advert videos and after you started doing them in terms of the people that applied, the amount of people that applied?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, both definitely. I think there were definitely less people applying, and the quality and caliber of candidate was not as good. And then a lot of strong. Candidates reference the video when we asked them in the interview guide what what prompted you to apply for this position, and they would speak about how they felt a sense of connection through the video and really liked it. And um, yeah, a a little tip, listen to Danny on creating a video so that you can create one and it stands the test of time. Because I made initially my first couple of months, I made it very specific to that role, and then realised that no, you're going to be growing, you want three or four teams, you're going to need this ad a lot. So making it a little bit more generic to an extent. And I mean, mine's probably due for a bit of an update. It's a few years old now. Um, but it's still, yeah, don't make it too role specific, be more about you and your firm and the culture that you have in your business, so that as you grow your team, the same ad can be used across multiple ads, saves time.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And another thing that we've also been promoting lately is um employee or contractor testimonies as well. Um, so it's something that we've started doing at WISE. And Selena, you were there because you you've been part of it as well. Um, but it's yeah, basically hearing your your staff's point of view, uh why why it's good to work for the firm. Um and yeah, if you need help, like oh, well, actually, I say this, but this is more for like Wise Talent specific uh clients. Um, we can help you with the editing part of that. So if you're if you're that's another perk of joining Wise Talent, because we can we can help with the with the video editing. But yeah, that is something to to consider as well, having your staff um do a testimony, basically. Because that way the candidates aren't just seeing your point of view, they're seeing other people's point of view. I've had firms who have done like um uh they've got offshore staff and they've actually done like a workshop sort of thing where all the offshore staff worked together um like
Clear Titles Pay Transparency And Fit
SPEAKER_02went somewhere together, and then a cr uh video was created. But it's it's really cool because it's all team bonding activities and that was all recorded and yeah, it was it was a great video. Um, I think Chris, that was a US firm, wasn't it? I don't want to say the name, but yeah, it's um yeah, it was it was a great video.
SPEAKER_01It's also really great to include that collateral on your website. Um, if you can create a team page or a join us page, then you can include things like team member testimonials and endorsements. You could even include great feedback from clients about specific team members just to show how valued they are. Um, I know some firms have used NPS score summaries as well to show that we're a you know we're a 9.5 or an 8.9 um every month with our team, what sort of initiatives you're doing for us. I took my team to Boracai to join us at the end of the Wise workshop last year. Those kind of photos would be great to include on on your website in a join us page because it it shows that you treat your people really well and you know great to have that when you're actively recruiting, but it's also good to always have sort of a bit of an idle page so that if someone good comes along, they might just reach out because you've got it on your website.
SPEAKER_02That's exactly right. Um and so if we sort of l look at everything that we spoke about um so far, there's I've sort of put it down into like six categories. Um so the first one is like the hook, which is basically who the role is perfect for. Um the next thing is uh what like what the candidate will actually be doing. So actually putting specific tasks, like the real tasks of what they'll be doing, but at the same time, there's a balance. You don't want to go into way too much detail, like every little nitty-gritty thing, like um, because that becomes too overwhelming,
Video And Testimonials That Sell
SPEAKER_02especially if you're putting down that they need to do specific um tasks in zero or whatever it is. Um just yeah, just putting like a the real tasks, but just not too too detailed. Um number three is what makes this role into interesting. Um so you know, the growth uh aspect of things, learning, um, exposure to different things. Um yeah, when you're selling your firm, you don't want to just uh sell the top end stuff about what you guys are doing, but also what how this is gonna benefit the candidates as well. Um and then number four is uh yeah, who this role uh is actually suited to. Um so and that's where like the skills and the mindset, that sort of stuff comes into it, uh putting making sure you put those things down. Um number five is about the company. Um that's really important. I I have seen job ads where there's no no um information at all because they want to stay anonymous. Um that's we don't really promote that because the candidate, if they don't know who they're going to be working for, they're most likely not going to apply. So make sure you do put, you know, a a link to your website. Um and if you don't have a great website, uh please get that sorted because candidates will jump into that and they will judge. Um so yeah, you just want to make sure that you do have a really good website as well. Um and then the last thing is what you're actually offering because at the end of the day, uh candidates do want to know what the what they're uh what they're um what they're gonna be getting. But also something to keep in mind, and this is really specific or really important with the um the interview process. Uh it is important to ask them why they applied for the position. But if the first answer they give you is I had a look at what you're offering and I loved, you know, the salary or the bonus structure or whatever, that's a red flag because you don't want them to just be joining your firm just for the benefits, because it means that when another firm comes along who's offering an even better package, they're gonna be going off with them. You want to make sure that they are saying things that, you know, I checked the
Six Part Job Ad Checklist
SPEAKER_02job description and I really liked what you've you've written with um, you know, the tasks or something because I'm doing that currently and or you know, they might want to learn more about that or whatever it is. But yeah. Yeah, we'll see you all at um next week's session. I hope everyone has a great day or evening, depending where you are in the world.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Wise Way. If today's episode sparked an idea or helped you see things differently, please don't forget to leave us a review. And if you haven't subscribed to the podcast on your favourite platform yet, please go ahead and do
Closing And Listener Next Steps
SPEAKER_00that as well. Let's continue the conversation here through YouTube or any other social platforms that you can find us on. And just remember, if you're not a subscriber of our weekly Friday tip newsletter, you can get that to your inbox every week going forward. Whether you're starting out or scaling up, you don't have to do it alone. Let's build a business that works for you the wise way. We'll see you in the next episode.