Advertising Policy

University policy is to recruit staff of the highest calibre through a fair and open process. At the centre of this process is both internal and external advertising. Best practice human resource management and equal opportunity considerations require that vacant positions are advertised.

It is important to remember that when planning your advertising you need to consider the type of position you are advertising as well as your intended audience and applicant pool. That is, depending on the position, the amount of time applicants may need to prepare their application may vary. For example, are you intending to target overseas applicants. If so, you need to consider time differences as well as overseas applicants possibly needing more time to gain relevant information before deciding to apply, therefore positions need to be advertised for lengthier periods of time.

It is a requirement that all positions are advertised for a minimum of 5 working days from the date of publications. This applies to both internal and external job advertisements.

As of the 1st January 2009 a new Recruitment Policy and Staged Advertising Process was introduced effecting professional positions only. As a result each professional position put forward for advertising will be required to proceed through the following stages:

1. Prior assessment is undertaken for any position that is created or becomes vacant on a 'need to fill' basis and budgetary implications determined prior to approval;
2. All positions given approval to be filled will be placed on a 'blind job board' with a 5 working day closing period. This job board is only accessible to staff identified “at risk” or in formal redeployment;
3. Where b. does not fill the vacancy, the position will be advertised on the HR website for a minimum of 5 working days and restricted to internal staff only.
4. Where b. and c. have been exhausted: Positions of greater than 12 months will proceed to external advertisement as follows:

• Professional staff positions classified at HEW 9 and below may only be advertised on online job boards, such as SEEK and the University website.
• All other positions may be advertised in broader forms of media (e.g.: newspapers); or,
• A waiver of advertising and appointment by invitation request is prepared (refer to Policy No#101, section 1.4.4: Waiving of advertisement).
• For more information regarding the University’s policy on advertising refer to Policy No# 101: Recruitment and Selection in the University policy library.

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Where can I advertise?

Academic Positions	Professional Positions
UOM Website	UOM Website
Seek	Seek
Print Media: The Age The Australian Journals Overseas Newspapers	Print Media: The Age The Australian Journals Overseas Newspapers HEW 10 Professional Positions only**
Other Websites#	Other Websites#
List Serves - Some professional associations have distribution list which include vacant position and development opportunities.	List Serves - Some professional associations have distribution list which include vacant position and development opportunities.

• ^** Professional staff positions classified at HEW 9 and below may only be advertised on online job boards, such as SEEK and the University website. Any proposal to an exemption to the above restriction will only be approved following determination by the Vice-Principle (Human Resources). Cases for exclusion should be forwarded in writing by the relevant Vice-Principal or Faculty General Manager to their relevant HR Consultant.
• ^# For a quick summary regarding Internet advertising, look at an Update on Internet advertising (.pdf)

Where you choose to advertise your vacancies can impact greatly on the amount and the quality of applicants that apply for your advertised position. At times it may be affective to utilise a range of websites, journals or publications.

Human Resources regularly receives information (including special offers) on advertising position vacancies through websites and various publications. These may be more cost effective for your department. For example, The Age has a calendar of My Career Features throughout the year, for example Careers in Banking, Accounting and Finance or Careers in Engineering and Construction. Such publications can provide your department with the unique opportunity to leverage off these features with placement of a suitable job advertisement to capture another readership and specialised audience and applicants.

For more information regarding the times and dates of publications available please see The Age’s 2009 MyCareer Features Calendar (.pdf)

To explore different advertising media, please contact your HR Officer or HR Consultant for information and advice.

Please note: Placement of all advertisements in the media for recruitment are required to come through Human Resources as part of the University’s exclusive contract with its preferred advertising agency.

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Are there any advertising cut offs? 

Print Media

Publication	Faculty/Department Online Approval	Publication Day
The Age	Monday 12 noon	Saturday
The Australian	Monday 12 noon	Wednesday of following week.

For cut off details for other print media options, contact your HR Officer or HR Consultant in Human Resources.

**NOTE: Due to the University’s advertising agency's requirements in relation to setting the print advertisement departments are unable to withdraw an advertisement once it has been submitted to Human Resources. Departments should therefore be sure that the advertisement will proceed prior to submission.

Web

Website	Faculty/Department Online Approval	Publication Day
UOM Website	Anytime	Within 2 working days*
Seek	Anytime	Within 2 working days*

*This is based on Human Resources confirming policy compliance and if no amendments are required.

Some alternative websites do have their own cut off dates and requirements. For more information contact your HR Officer or HR Consultant in Human Resources.

Public and University Holiday Deadlines

• View the Public and University Holidays Deadlines for 2013 (.pdf)

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How much does advertising cost?

Advertising rates vary between various print media and online options.

What does it mean if I am listed in an advertisement as the contact person?

This means that potential applicants will contact you regarding any queries they have concerning the position. This may involve specifics of the role, salary information, employment conditions, through to general questions regarding the University or information on your department.

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How do I advertise a vacant position?

All requests for advertising are submitted using our e-Recruitment system, PageUp, which is accessed via Themis. The Department Administrator creates a job requisition, which is sent electronically to the nominated Level 2 and Level 3 delegation for approval. Please contact your nominated Department Administrator to create the job requisition on your behalf. You are required to provide the Department Administrator with all the details of the job including:

• Position Title
• Whether the position is a new position or a replacement
• Salary Level
• Supervisor’s position and employee number
• Salary and Advertising Cost Codes
• Details of Selection Panel members including who is the Panel Chair
• Advertising information ? where you want to advertise and closing dates.

An updated Position Description and the Health and Hazard Questionnaire also need to be forwarded to your Department Administrator to be attached to the job requisition.

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Components of a Print Advertisement

The University crest and the creative visual elements are images designed to give University advertising a strong sense of consistency and visibility. In the case of joint appointments, other logos can be incorporated into the design.

Potential applicants will be directed to the University Careers webpage for further information and a copy of the position description. The Careers site also contains a Job Search function to view all advertised positions.
As part of a commitment to create a strong brand for the University, a prominent composite advertisement will appear each week in the Higher Education section of The Age and The Australian.

The aim of composite advertising is to provide a coordinated approach to recruitment advertising and as a consequence:

• Promote the University as an employer of choice
• Create greater awareness of the University as a recruiter
• Position the University as a leader in the education sector

This is also supported on the HR website with information readily accessible to potential applicants on the benefits available at this University.

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How to create a successful recruitment advertisement

Creating a successful recruitment advertisement is one of the most vital steps of the Recruitment and Selection process. Reason being, there is a direct link between the quality and placement of your ad and the response of potential applicants. To make the best selection, you need to attract a quality pool of applicants.

Therefore, consider the following points when preparing your recruitment advertisement:

• Your ad should be more about the reader and less about you the employer. Think about what job seekers care about and what is important to them when job hunting. Eg: Flexible working hours.
• Ensure the position title is reflective of the job.
• Use bullet points and bold text to grab jobseekers attention, and more so to highlight important aspects of your advertisement.
• Be succinct and specific with your ad content. This will lead to more relevant and appropriate applications.
• The most important word you can use in a recruitment ad is the word you. Instead of using generic words such as the incumbent use you to connect with the reader. This is vital as people scan ads before they read them, therefore you only have a few seconds to grab their attention.
• Write in an active voice such as, “you will be” and “ideally you will have”. This further assists in connecting with potential candidates.
• Don?t just copy the position description into the ad. Keep the summary short and engaging. At this point potential applicants are asking themselves two questions: Can I do this? and Is it interesting?
• Ensure your job advertisement is posted where jobseekers would expect to find it. More importantly that it is posted where the right jobseekers are likely to find it, eg: Industry specific journals.
• Should you list salary on the advertisement? The choice is yours. In some cases it will add to the advertisement and at other times it may subtract. However, it is highly recommend that you at least include salary as a search function for online job boards such as Seek to increase the chances of your job being returned to the maximum number of potential applicants searching job boards.

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