It’s actually quite exciting when you first publish a job advert, you’ve taken the time to get it just right, turning your rather wordy job specification into a punchy job advert that is going to turn heads and attract top talent. After all, your company is offering a competitive salary, great benefits, a first-class culture and career progression – this hire is going to be a doddle!
Oh, but hang on a minute, a few days have passed and you’ve not seen anywhere near the numbers of candidates you were expecting “why is nobody applying to my job adverts?” you ask.
The largest response rates happen when adverts first go live, so if the floodgates haven’t opened within the first few days, something might be wrong. However, there’s another challenge that many employers face in today’s market.
Sometimes the floodgates do open, but instead of high quality applicants, you’re met with an overwhelming surge of irrelevant CVs, low effort applications, and candidates who clearly haven’t read the role.
In 2026, volume does not equal success.
Filtering through dozens, or even hundreds, of mediocre applications can be just as time consuming and frustrating as receiving none at all, and it often points to the same underlying issue, the advert is not attracting the right audience.
We’ve put together these 7 reasons why your job adverts might be failing, and key insight on how to kick start better applications.
7 reasons why your job adverts might not be working…
1. DID YOU TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE?
With thousands of job sites, aggregators and social platforms available in the UK, it’s easy to assume that job advertising success comes down to simply choosing the right job board. But in 2026, the bigger issue is usually this:
Your advert may be visible, but it’s reaching the wrong people.
Many employers either see no applicants at all, or the opposite, a flood of irrelevant CVs, because the job is being shown to the widest possible audience rather than the most suitable one. Modern job advertising is no longer just about where you post, it’s about:
- Who the advert is being served to
- How algorithms rank and distribute it
- Whether you’re attracting active jobseekers or passive talent
- How clear your targeting is from the very first line
What can you do?
Start by treating job advertising like a marketing campaign rather than a noticeboard post. If responses are poor, or quality is low, ask:
- Are we advertising in the right places for this specific talent pool?
- Is the role being picked up correctly by aggregators and search engines?
- Are we leaning too heavily on one channel rather than spreading intelligently?
For the best results, aim for targeted exposure rather than broad exposure.
A strong campaign often includes a mix of:
- Niche industry platforms (higher relevance, fewer irrelevant applicants)
- LinkedIn distribution and founder networks
- Targeted outreach alongside advertising
- Search optimised job pages on your own website
- Referral led hiring, where quality is consistently higher
The goal is not to generate more applications.
The goal is to generate the right applications, with less noise, less admin, and faster shortlists.
In today’s market, relevance beats reach every time.
2. YOUR JOB ADVERT ISN’T KEYWORD OPTIMISED
Job boards are in effect just search engines, therefore if you can strike the right balance between keyword density, stemmed keywords and tone of voice you’ll be onto a winner.
Once you’ve launched your advert, look for it as if you are a candidate. Use search terms they might be using and see where your advert appears. If you’re not appearing on the first couple of pages, then you have a problem.
Something to be aware of is that once your advert goes live, some job boards won’t allow you to edit salary ranges, job titles and other key text. Be sure to do your research first to avoid wasting advertising spend.
3. YOUR ADVERT ISN’T OPTIMISED FOR CONVERSION
If you divide the number of views you get by the total number of applications received (minus any duplicates) you’ll get your conversion rate. Typical conversion rates run at 1-2 applications for every 10 views, so if your ratio is lower than this then something might be wrong.
Writing an advert is a careful balancing act between skills, responsibilities, keywords, culture, location, salary and benefits (not forgetting the need to structure your advert in the correct order) that when done correctly draws a reader in and edges them to the apply now button.
Each job board works differently, i.e. Keywords in the title might work well for Indeed but could be terrible for LinkedIn. If advertising on multiple sites be prepared to create slightly different versions of your job advert for best results.
It’s a competitive job market out there and the simple fact is that if you don’t stand-out and sell yourself your adverts will get overlooked. Produce compelling copy that describes what your company is like to work for, make it engaging and don’t just focus on the responsibilities and skill requirements.
How to write a job advert is a recent blog post we produced to help employers looking for more advice on the subject.
4. YOU’RE ASKING FOR TOO MANY SKILLS
In a study compiled by Hewlett Packard and reported in the Harvard Business Review, it was found that Men apply for a job when they meet 60% of the qualifications, but women only apply if they meet 95% of them.
Packing a job advert with long lists of skills and qualifications is a sure-fire way to put candidates off (especially women), therefore before committing all those skills into a job advert ask yourself “are they absolutely essential for the role?”.
Trim down your list to only include the must have requirements! Advantageous skills should be listed under a separate header or omitted from your advert all together.
5. IS YOUR SALARY COMPETITIVE (OR EVEN LISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE)?
Including a salary range means candidates will be able to instantly relate to your position, it creates a more exacting approach that will generate responses that directly correlate to market conditions.
Search for similar jobs to see how your salary ranges compare to your competitors, your advert needs to be competitive otherwise responses and results will fall below market averages.
Consider the rarity of the skills you require and how competitive the market is, in a highly competitive job market when companies are fighting over the best talent the addition of a salary can create the interest and provide the competitive edge to get candidates to apply.
Removing the salary will generate a broader range of applicants and could impact on search optimisation and conversion rates as candidates will often hold back on applying to positions when they don’t know what the salary is.
General advice is to include a range, however it’s not possible in all situations to do this, therefore be sure to ask candidates their salary expectations at the earliest point in the recruitment lifecycle to ensure that expectations match. It’s a horrible feeling when you discover your ideal candidate wants more salary than your budget allows and it’s at the end of an interview.
6. YOU’RE TOO DEMANDING OF CANDIDATES
In the initial instance your job advert is there to generate some initial interest and spark a conversation. The aim is to attract an array of interested folk that you can whittle down into your defined shortlist.
Don’t put up barriers. Hurdles such as requesting personalised cover letters, application forms, tests, questionnaires etc. can put off candidates who may be restricted for time and will result in a reduction of applications (even the very best ones).
Spark up a conversation first and then hit them with the homework, candidates are far more cooperative once the dialog is flowing. Explain the reasons why you need tests to be completed or personalised forms filled out to drive engagement and conversion, you’re also more likely to receive a better quality of work as you’ve made a more formal request.
Recruitment is about building relationships, make the connection first and then ask for something.
7. YOU’RE PROCRASTINATING OVER POTENTIALLY GOOD CANDIDATES
When recruiting it’s important to jump in, have conversations and build a first-hand understanding of what skills are available on the market as of right now.
Reach out to potential candidates even if they only match 75% of your brief, some of the best hires we’ve made at Spot have been those that look ordinary on paper but jump out after that initial exploratory conversation.
Holding out for the exact blend of skills and experience might be the business strategy, but it’s important to ask yourself “what is the cost to the business by not having someone in post” to potentially broaden out your hiring scope to be more inclusive of less qualified candidates.
It’s also worth remembering that the best candidates do not stay on the market for very long, in fact the very skilled are gone within just 24 hours of applying to a job and 34% of the best are gone within the first week.
If you’re seeking more information on how to get the best ROI from your recruitment get in touch for a chat.
