Flexible working hours, working from home, further training opportunities, free coffee or a company phone: The list of possible benefits in job advertisements is long. Many companies use additional benefits to position themselves as attractive employers and convince potential applicants to apply for a position.
However, not every benefit is equally relevant to every target audience. While flexible working models may be attractive for an office position, other factors may play a greater role in healthcare or skilled trades.
The key is therefore not to list as many benefits as possible. Instead, companies should demonstrate what specific added value they offer their employees and why it is relevant to the respective target audience.
Why benefits are important in job advertisements
When deciding for or against an employer, responsibilities and salary are not the only factors that matter. The working conditions associated with a position also influence whether potential applicants feel attracted to it.
Benefits can provide additional reasons to choose an employer. For example, they show how flexibly a company operates, what development opportunities are available or how employees are supported in their everyday work.
Especially when several employers offer similar positions, such information can make a difference. However, this requires the benefits mentioned to provide genuine added value rather than simply presenting standard working conditions in a more attractive way.
A job advertisement should therefore not only communicate what a company expects from its future employees. It should also clearly show what applicants can expect in return.
Which benefits are particularly relevant to applicants
Which benefits are attractive depends heavily on the position and target audience. Nevertheless, there are several areas that play an important role for many applicants.
Flexibility and work-life balance
Flexible working hours, part-time models or, where the role allows, working from home can help employees better balance their professional and personal lives. However, it is important to communicate as specifically as possible what is actually available.
Instead of simply mentioning “flexible working hours”, companies can specify whether flexible schedules are offered, how many days employees can work from home or which part-time models are available.
Holidays and additional time off
Additional holiday days can be a tangible advantage. The option to purchase extra holiday days, take unpaid leave or benefit from additional days off can also be attractive to applicants.
The same principle applies here: Specific information is more meaningful than general statements. “At least five weeks of holiday” communicates much more than a vague reference to a good work-life balance.
Training and development
Further training opportunities are particularly attractive to applicants who want to develop professionally or personally. Companies can offer internal training, financial support for external courses or specific career development opportunities.
Instead of simply promising “attractive training opportunities”, it is worth explaining what this support actually looks like.
Financial and material benefits
Depending on the company and industry, discounts, mobility benefits, meal allowances, insurance benefits or contributions towards certain expenses may also be relevant.
For example, a free public transport pass can provide considerable added value for employees with a longer commute. Employee discounts can be particularly attractive when they apply to products or services that are actually used regularly.
The right benefit depends on the target audience
A common mistake is to use the same list of benefits for every position within a company.
What appeals to one target audience may not necessarily be a deciding factor for another.
For healthcare professionals, reliable shift schedules, additional holiday days, support for further training or family-friendly working models may be particularly relevant. For employees in skilled trades, work clothing, modern tools, a company vehicle or paid training can offer practical advantages.
For office and IT positions, flexible working hours, working from home, training opportunities or modern working models may carry more weight.
Personal circumstances can also influence which benefits are attractive. While some applicants particularly value additional holidays, others place greater importance on financial advantages, professional development or flexibility.
Companies should therefore not start by considering which benefits they want to highlight most prominently, but which ones are actually relevant to the target audience they want to reach.
This should already be taken into account when designing the entire job advertisement. Just like responsibilities and requirements, benefits should also be tailored to the specific vacancy.
Not everything is automatically a benefit
Not every positive aspect of a workplace automatically qualifies as an additional benefit. A competitive salary, respectful treatment or the equipment necessary to perform the job should not be presented as exceptional benefits. The well-known “free coffee” is also unlikely to be a deciding factor in whether a qualified professional chooses an employer.
This does not mean that smaller perks should never be mentioned. However, they should not overshadow the more relevant working conditions of a position.
A long list of minor perks can even be distracting if important information about working hours, holidays, development opportunities or flexibility is missing.
Less can therefore also be more when it comes to benefits: A few specific benefits that are relevant to the target audience are usually more meaningful than the longest possible list.
Benefits must be visible
Even attractive benefits are of little use if applicants only discover them after several clicks on the career page. Relevant benefits should therefore already be clearly visible in the job advertisement. They do not necessarily need to be explained in a long text. A clear presentation with short descriptions can be sufficient, provided it is obvious what is actually being offered.
With my.two.jobs, job advertisements can be customized to include benefits, images, videos and additional information about the employer alongside responsibilities and requirements. This gives interested candidates a more comprehensive impression of the position and the company from their very first contact.
A clear structure is particularly important for mobile users. Applicants should be able to quickly understand relevant information without having to work through long blocks of text. Find out here why the application process must also work on smartphones.
Benefits are only part of the overall picture
Attractive benefits can make a position more appealing. However, they cannot compensate for fundamental problems in recruiting.
If the application process is complicated, responses take too long or the actual working conditions do not match the job advertisement, even an extensive list of benefits will have only a limited impact.
Benefits should therefore be considered part of the entire candidate journey. The job advertisement creates expectations that should also be reflected in the subsequent application process and later in everyday working life.
The speed of the recruiting process also plays a role. Find out why unnecessary waiting times can cost companies qualified candidates and how businesses can improve their processes in our article “Optimizing the Application Process: Why Speed Is Crucial in Recruiting”.
Conclusion
Benefits can be an important argument in favour of a position, provided they match the target audience and offer genuine added value.
Instead of listing as many benefits as possible, companies should therefore consider which working conditions are particularly relevant to the applicants they want to attract and communicate these as specifically as possible.
Flexible working models, additional holidays, training opportunities or financial advantages can be important arguments depending on the position. However, what matters is not only which benefits are offered, but also how clearly and credibly they are communicated in the job advertisement.
A good job advertisement therefore does not only show what applicants should bring to the role. It also makes clear what the company offers them in return.
Would you like to make your job advertisements more attractive and optimize your candidate journey? Find out how you can improve your recruiting!
