How to post a job

Job adverts – top tips

Attract the best candidates to your vacancies by following a few simple steps:

  • Job title – begin with a formal job title that is used consistently throughout the advert.
  • Job description – provide a detailed description of the job’s roles and responsibilities, where the job is located – or area covered – along with the contract type (for example, permanent, full-time). It sounds obvious, but applicants want to know what they are applying for! Therefore, specifics such as responsibilities, hours, and contract types, will make it more likely that candidates will take time applying.
  • Salary – Did you know? A survey conducted in 2021 by Reed.co.uk found a 27% increase in applications received for jobs that disclosed a salary. Therefore, if you can specify an hourly or annual salary or pay range, it is more likely applicants will apply.
  • Person specification – state the requirements for the role, including any previous experience required or desired, personal characteristics and skills.
  • Organisation – give information on the organisation as a whole – what service do you provide and what does it mean to work for your company? Make sure you include your company logo, website, and social media handles.
  • Benefits – what benefits are there to joining your company? What makes working for your company unique?

Jobs board eligibility

In order to use the free Proud to Care jobs board, you must meet the following criteria:

  • Private, voluntary, public sector, social enterprise and charitable organisations employing staff working in adult and children’s social care in wider Devon, which includes Plymouth and Torbay. Work settings include adult and children’s social care workers in the community, care homes, hospices, mental health, learning disability and supported living.
  • Volunteer vacancies in adult and children’s social care in wider Devon.
  • To advertise a vacancy you need to register (which is free) and accept our terms and conditions. You can then log in to the jobs board as often as you wish to advertise your vacancies.

Using our jobs board – a step-by-step guide

We want to ensure navigating our jobs board is as quick and easy as possible. That is why we have created a step-by-step guide below which will take you through the process.

Alternatively, you may find it useful to follow this short video as a visual demonstration of how to use our site.

Before you post a job

After confirming your account by clicking on the email link please take the time to fill in your company details on your accounts page, including address, website, Twitter, Facebook, as this will then prefill many of the categories for you when posting an advert and will allow us full google analytics tracking of how well your advert preforms.

How to post your first advert

  • Hover on Jobs and select ‘Post a Job’ from the drop-down menu.
  • Fill in the fields as you go down the form.
  • If you have multiple job types/terms/locations, for example, full-time, part-time, various hours, you may duplicate the job at the end to post more than one vacancy (see instructions below).
  • Add a sentence or two in the summary box which will show with your job advert in search results. Although optional, this will greatly increase the look of your advert and engage with candidates.
  • Salary options are extensive. Use the range options if pay increases after a trial period or varies dependent on experience (e.g. £8.00 – £9.00)
  • Complete the travel expenses field if you pay mileage or travel time. Select yes and give a short explanation.
  • Organisation details; give as much information as possible.
  • If you have a direct link to an application form, you can copy a URL to the specific job, instead of an email address. (for example, if your vacancy is also advertised on Devon Jobs, you will want to link to the specific job URL, rather than the home page).
  • Always upload a logo, if you have one.
  • Contact details: provide the full address, if the role is based at a single location, as this will be shown on a map and can be clicked on for directions. If the role involves working from multiple locations (for example, domiciliary care) then select ‘Yes’ and give an idea of location (for example, Exeter and surrounding areas or Topsham, Exeter and Exmouth).
  • Take the time to preview your advert as some things may line up differently in preview mode. You can easily go back and re-edit to make your advert look the best it can.

Once you have submitted your advert it will be sent to the Proud to Care Devon team for approval. This will be done as quickly as possible, within 24 hours Monday to Friday. If your advert is rejected you will receive an email explaining why. Once approved, your vacancy is live and you can then find your job in ‘My Account’ and then ‘Jobs Board’.

How to post further adverts (duplicating), edit existing jobs, or remove a job

Log into your account and find the job in ‘My Account’ and then ‘Jobs Board’. By hovering over the job you can edit it, mark the post as filled, duplicate, or delete it. We wouldn’t recommend deleting the job as you may want to post it again in the future. If you mark a post as filled this will remove it from the live adverts and store it in your Jobs Board.

If you want to post a similar job (for example, you listed a full-time post and you have the same job but with part-time hours), you can duplicate the advert and simply change the few fields necessary.

If you would like any help or have feedback, please email proudtocare@devon.gov.uk.