Tips to improve your driver recruitment ads

April 18, 2023 Christina DeBusk

Male trucker shaking a hand while standing in front of a truck

Driver recruitment can be a challenge, especially amidst the looming worker shortage—not just in the transportation industry but in the workforce as a whole.

This makes it even more important that your recruitment ads compel prospects to apply for your open driver positions. Here are a few tips that can help.

Use the right words

What headline are you using in your driver ads? Are you advertising for a truck driver, for instance, or a CDL driver? While it would seem like both would net similar results, individuals searching for jobs with these titles on Indeed see more than 6,000 fewer jobs when using the first title over the second. So, the words you use in your ad’s headline and body can make it easier or harder for prospective drivers to find you.

Indeed’s Career Guide recommends that if a position has more than one potential job title, such as truck driver and CDL driver, make sure the one not used in the title is included somewhere in the body of the post. This helps people searching for a driver job better find your ad.

Indeed also recommends doing a keyword search to decide which words your ad should include. Many online sites offer this capability. Use one or two and see which words or phrases have the most search traffic, then add those words to your recruitment ad.

Make the ad easy to read

The same principles apply to driver recruitment ads as those used to write blogs or even your website pages. The goal is to make the information easy to read so people do, in fact, read it.

You can do this in several different ways. One is by using short sentences and paragraphs. Also, separate different sections of your ad with bolded subheadings, such as Benefits and Qualifications. This enables prospects to jump to the information that they desire most.

Using bullet points is another way to increase your ad’s readability. Information presented in this format is easier to read through. Keep these list items short. The fewer words, the better.

Talk about benefits first

Imagine that you’re someone looking for a driver position. When going to a job post, the first thing you read is the job duties. Then the ad gets into the qualifications needed to apply. If any of these are unclear or the list feels overwhelming, you’re likely to pass.

Now picture going to a job ad and the first thing it talks about is the benefits. It might share the benefits of being a driver, in general, such as not having to be stuck indoors all day, getting to see different places in the area and working in a position that is both solitary and yet still part of a team. Maybe the ad also talks about benefits that the company provides specifically, such as offering health insurance, paid days off or a flexible work schedule.

Placing benefits first in your driver recruitment ads helps get prospects excited about the job. This increases the likelihood that they’ll want to apply. It also reduces the risks that they feel so overpowered by the responsibilities and requirements that they fail to read far enough to learn about the advantages of the job.

Share the hiring process

People looking for driver jobs can be in different places in their lives. Some will be employed and want to give their current company two weeks’ notice. Others won’t have a job and want to start immediately.

Letting prospects know what your hiring process looks like right in the job ad helps them see how it would fit into their situation. You don’t have to be super detailed but a basic outline of the steps and how long hiring takes makes it easier for them to decide whether to apply.

This also saves your company time down the road by losing prospects after you’ve already invested time in reviewing their application or checking their work history. If expectations are clearly set up front, you can keep this from occurring.
 

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help find the right drivers for you!

About the Author

Christina M. DeBusk creates small business content for a variety of publications, some of which include Businessing Magazine, Compendent, Chiropractic Economics, and more. She is also the author behind the column, "The Successful Solopreneur.

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