Writing a Job Ad That Good Tradies Actually Answer

Most trade job ads read the same way. Busy local company seeking experienced tradesperson. Must be reliable, have own tools and a current licence. Immediate start for the right applicant. Then the owner wonders why the only replies are from people who are not qualified or not interested. The ad is doing exactly what it was written to do, which is nothing. A job ad is a sales page aimed at someone who already has a job, and it has to be written that way.

Understand who you are writing to

The person you want is already employed. They are not desperate, they are not scrolling job boards every night, and they will spend about twenty seconds deciding whether your ad is worth a second look. They are not asking whether they could do the work. They are asking whether your business would be better than the one they are in now.

Everything in the ad should answer that question. If a line does not help them picture the job or compare it to what they already have, cut it.

Be specific about the actual work

Experienced electrician wanted tells them nothing. Domestic switchboard upgrades and solar in the eastern suburbs, mostly two-person jobs, occasional commercial fitout tells them everything. Good tradies have preferences. Some want variety, some want to stop doing rough-in, some are sick of driving ninety minutes to a site.

Say what the work is, where it is, who they would be working with and what a typical week looks like. Specificity filters the field for you before a single application arrives.

Put a pay range in the ad

Leaving pay out does not protect your position. It just means the people who are paid well already assume the worst and keep scrolling. A range, an hourly rate, or even a clear statement that you pay above award with the detail to follow, moves you ahead of most of the ads on the page.

It also saves you the interview where you both discover you were never in the same ballpark. If you are unsure what to put, look at what comparable local businesses are advertising and price yourself honestly against them.

Spell out the conditions that actually matter

These are the details experienced tradies compare, and the ones most ads leave out:

• Start and finish times, and whether they are actually kept
• Whether there is a vehicle, and whether it goes home with them
• Who supplies tools, PPE and consumables
• Travel expectations and typical distance to site
• Overtime and weekend work, how often and how it is paid
• Whether there is on-call or after-hours work

Being straight about the less appealing parts works in your favour. Someone who takes the job knowing there is a weekend on call every third week is far more likely to still be there in a year.

Sell the things people actually leave jobs over

Nobody resigns because the ute was the wrong colour. They leave because they were mucked around on pay, never knew what the week looked like, or got no support when a job went wrong. If you are good on those things, say so plainly.

Paid on time every fortnight, no chasing. Schedule out by Friday for the following week. If you hit a problem on site, you ring and we sort it together. These are ordinary claims, but most ads do not make them, and to someone in a badly run business they read as luxury.

Make applying take two minutes

Asking for a tailored cover letter and a full CV from someone who is on the tools all day is a good way to get no applications. Ask for a phone number, a short note about what they have been doing, and a licence number if it is relevant. You can get everything else at the interview.

Give them more than one way to reply, and include text or a mobile number. A lot of good tradies would rather send three lines by message at smoko than open a laptop.

Reply fast, or lose them

Hiring is the same speed game as quoting. Someone who applies on Tuesday and hears nothing until the following week has usually had two other conversations by then. Set yourself a rule to reply to every applicant within a day, even if it is only to say you will call on Thursday.

If you use a CRM for leads, you can run applicants through the same thing. An automatic acknowledgement the moment they apply, a reminder to yourself if you have not called within two days, and a short note to the ones you do not proceed with. The trades that hire well are rarely the ones offering the most money. They are the ones who answer the phone.

The short version

• Write to someone who already has a job, not someone who is desperate
• Describe the actual work, the area and the crew, not generic duties
• Include a pay range, or you lose the people worth paying
• Be honest about hours, travel, vehicle, tools and after-hours work
• Sell reliable pay, a known schedule and real support, because most ads do not
• Make applying take two minutes and reply within a day

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to put pay in the job ad?

You are not obliged to, but leaving it out costs you the experienced applicants who already know their worth and will not spend an evening on an application to find out. A range with a note that it depends on experience is enough, and it filters out mismatches before anyone wastes time.

Where should I advertise for tradies?

The job boards are worth using, but the best results usually come from your own network first: your suppliers, your subbies, and your existing crew, who often know someone looking for a change. Post the same ad to your social pages too, since local followers frequently pass it on.

How do I keep good people once I have hired them?

The same things that made them apply. Pay on time, publish the schedule in advance, keep the vehicle and tools in decent order, and back them up when a job goes sideways. Most people who leave a trade business do so over how it is run day to day, not over the rate.