Introduction
Crafting an effective job advert is crucial to attracting the right candidates. This guide provides practical tips and examples to help you write a clear and compelling advert, ensuring you find the ideal person for your role.
Posting an effective advert
Crafting an effective job advert is crucial to attracting the right candidates. This guide provides practical tips and examples to help you write a clear and compelling advert, ensuring you find the ideal person for your role.
Job description
Creating a detailed job description is critical for attracting the right candidates. This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and outline the details of the role.
What to include:
- Personality: Show off your hobbies and interests. Love swimming? Mention it! Big fan of cheesy movies? Share that too. From our experience, adverts that highlight the employer’s personality and interests receive the most interest.
- A personal tone: Writing it from your perspective can make the advert more personal and relatable, e.g. ‘I am a 30-year-old woman looking for a Personal Assistant’ instead of ‘Personal Assistant needed for 30-year-old woman’.
- Focus on needs: Highlight the needs, wishes, and desired outcomes.
Example: “Hi, I’m a 6-year-old boy who loves adventures and trying new things. I’m looking for a dedicated and fun-loving friend to help me explore the world around me for around 5 – 7 hours on Saturdays. I enjoy trampolining, soft play, playgrounds, swimming, beach and woodland walks, family farms, aquariums, and theme parks. I am autistic and non-speaking, but my understanding is always improving, I use my iPad to communicate. I need someone who can keep up with my energy, help me navigate these activities, and make sure I’m always safe. I live in Worthing with my mum, dad, little brother, and our dog. My 15-year-old half-brother visits often, and we all enjoy spending time together. I need you to be engaged & stay with me during activities & not just leave me to it. I need you to explain, encourage and support me so I can get the most out of the experience. If you’re patient, enthusiastic, and ready for fun, I’d love to meet you!”
What to avoid:
- Sensitive information: Avoid including personal details like a child’s name or school or the employer’s full address. Don’t include your phone number or email address in the job description of the advert; all applications through PA Pages will be emailed to you by our recruitment team providing they meet essential requirements, such as having the right to work in the UK.
- Repetition: Avoid repeating information that is elsewhere in the advert, such as a long list of tasks.
- Jargon and complex words: Use simple language accessible to a wide audience.
- Discriminatory language: You must not include any language that could be viewed as discriminatory against any of the following nine protected characteristics – gender, race, religion or belief, disability, age, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. For example, you cannot request for someone of a similar age to yourself.
- Too much information: try to keep the advert as concise as possible so that it is easy for potential applicants to read and digest the information. Detailed information on the role and every task involved should be included in a separate job description document that forms the basis of the PA’s job, please use the following template if you have not yet completed a job description. 2.1 Writing a job description and person specification
Person details
- Who is being cared for and genders who can apply for this job: Applicants of the same gender as the person being cared for can only be requested if there is personal care involved or another genuine reason. It’s important to avoid discriminatory practices during recruitment, so please contact our recruitment team if you are unsure.
- Working Pattern: We would recommend including the hours, or range of hours available each week, as well as any specific days or times needed or if the hours are flexible and can be mutually agreed. You can also mention in this section any additional information about the working pattern for example if a job share would be considered.
- Pay rate: Where possible avoid vague terms like ‘up to’ and specify exact hourly pay rates. Your pay rate must be at least minimum wage, which for 2025/26 is £12.21 per hour. You must also ensure that your pay rate is affordable within your DP budget. If you are requiring the applicants to use drive their own personal vehicle as part of the role, you will need to pay a mileage rate.
- Driving licence and access to own vehicle: consider whether this is essential to your role or just desirable, as this can limit the number of applications received.
- Overnight care: will the PA be required to frequently work overnight? If this is a possibility but is not essential, or very infrequent you may wish to discuss this with applicants during interview instead of selecting ‘yes’.
Employee personal qualities
Select any of the personal quality tick boxes that are relevant. Any additional personal qualities can be bullet pointed in the text box. Try to consider what is essential/ desirable to the role. For example, do applicants need specific training courses or is this something that is desirable but can be completed during their induction?
Employee duties
Select any of the employee duty tick boxes that are relevant. Any additional tasks can be included in the text box; try to simplify additional tasks into clear, concise bullet points to improve readability.
Avoid making the duties list too long. Your advert should give an overview of the tasks involved, but you do not need to list out every specific task. Detailed tasks should go in your job description document. For example, in your job description document you may have listed that you need assistance with hoovering, tidying, dusting, changing the bins, cleaning the bathroom etc. but this can be made simpler in your advert by selecting ‘housekeeping’.
Before submitting your advert make sure you have proofread thoroughly for any spelling or grammar errors!
Recruiting a Personal Assistant can be challenging, but with careful planning and the right resources, you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Remember, Independent Lives is here to support you every step of the way. If you need any further guidance, please contact our advice or recruitment teams on 01903 219482 (option 3 or option 4) advice@independentlives.org recruitment@independentlives.org