This article will guide you through the process of creating and publishing a job advertisement within ELMO, including how to repost existing ads, manage their visibility, and address common questions.
Creating a New Job Ad
To create or edit an existing job ad, you first need to navigate to the requisition:
1. Go to Recruitment → Requisitions → Actions → View Job Ads
2. Click the New Job Ad button to begin.
Job Ad Details
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The Job ad title is automatically populated from the requisition name but can be edited as needed.
Enter the following details such as:
Job Location
Job Category
Job Type
Embed Video / Position of Video (Optional)
Job Ad Start / End Date
Salary
Understanding Job Ad Start / End Date
Scheduling a Future Ad: You can schedule a job ad to be posted at a future time by setting the Job Ad Start Date to a future date. The ad will not become visible on any portals until that date arrives. A common reason an ad doesn't appear live is because the start date was accidentally set for a future date.
Ad Expiry Time: Job ads will expire at 11:59 PM on the Job Ad End Date you specify. If you need an advertisement to close at a specific time of day (e.g., 4:00 PM), you must manually go into the job ad and disable it at that time.
Channels
In the "Channels" section of the job ad creation page, you can determine where your advertisement will be published.
Drafting an Ad: If you want to save a partially completed job ad without publishing it, ensure all channel toggles (Internal, External, SEEK, etc.) are disabled before clicking save.
Internal Careers Portal:
Enabling this option makes the job ad visible to your employees through the "Careers" tab on their ELMO dashboard.
For this to work, the "Careers Menu" must be enabled under Administration → General → General Setup → Configuration.
There is currently no automated notification to inform all staff when a new internal job is posted.
External Careers Portal:
This channel posts the job to your public-facing careers website.
Enabling the External Careers Portal is a prerequisite for posting to SEEK, LinkedIn, and Indeed.
You can create multiple career portals. This can be used as a workaround if you want to post an ad for an "Expression of Interest" without it appearing on your main company website. You can create a second portal that is not embedded on your main site and share the direct link.
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Tip: If you are unable to select a careers portal when creating a job ad, it may be because changes have been made to the portal that have not yet been published. An administrator will need to go to Administration → Recruitment → Careers Portals and click Publish.
Job Board Integrations:
SEEK +
To post to SEEK, you must first enable the External Careers Portal and select a portal from the dropdown. This will make the SEEK Job Ad section appear.
You must fill in all mandatory SEEK fields, including Location and Suggested Category, before the Ad Type (e.g., Classic, StandOut, Premium) dropdown will populate.
Once an ad is posted to SEEK, its screening questions and ad type cannot be changed without creating a new ad.
SEEK ads automatically expire after 30 days. The end date for a SEEK ad cannot be extended once it's posted.
Due to a change from SEEK, expired ads often cannot be reposted using the "Repost advert" button and will return an error like "Invalid advertisement product ID: No longer valid". In this case, you must use the "Copy" function to create a new ad for the same requisition.
SEEK may automatically add "(Hybrid)" to a location based on its own AI, and hyperlinks in job descriptions are often stripped out. These issues must be addressed with your SEEK Account Manager.
LinkedIn & Indeed +
These integrations are tied to the External Careers Portal. If the external portal is enabled, the job ad will automatically be sent to LinkedIn and Indeed.
You cannot disable LinkedIn or Indeed on a per-ad basis; you must disable the entire integration under Administration → Recruitment → Job Board Channel Configuration. Disabling the integration will also cause existing ads to expire from that platform.
TradeMe +
ELMO supports integration with TradeMe.
To set this up, an administrator goes to the Integration tab, selects TradeMe, and clicks Add account. You will need to provide a "Connection Name" (a name you choose, like "Hydraulink TradeMe") and then use the credentials provided by TradeMe to complete the setup.
Content
Job Ad Templates +
ELMO allows you to create job ad templates to standardize your advertisements.
Editing the Introduction: A common point of confusion is editing the "Introduction" section. This part of the template is controlled globally and cannot be edited within an individual template's layout. To edit the Introduction for all templates, an administrator must navigate to Administration → Recruitment → Job Templates and select the Introduction tab.
Overriding Template Content: Even when using a template, you can edit or completely overwrite the pre-populated text (including the global introduction) within the individual job ad you are creating without affecting the master template.
When creating a job ad, the content is typically structured into several default sections. It's important to understand how these sections behave:
Fixed Headings: The primary headings in the job ad template, such as "Introduction," "Job Description," and "Desired Skills and Experience," are hard-coded into the system. You cannot change the names of these headings or reorder them.
Hiding Sections: If you do not want a specific heading (e.g., "Desired Skills and Experience") to appear on the final job advertisement, leave its corresponding text box completely empty. Be sure to remove any hidden characters or spaces, which you can verify by clicking the "Source" button in the editor.
Creating Custom Headings: If you require different headings, the recommended workaround is to type all of your content into a single field, like the "Job Description" box, and create your own subheadings within that section.
Tips for Formatting and Content +
Pasting from Word: When copying text from a Word document, hidden formatting can cause issues in the ELMO editor, such as random text appearing in italics. To prevent this, it is best to first paste the text into a plain text editor like Notepad to strip the formatting, and then copy it into the job ad. Alternatively, use the
Ctrl + Shift + Vkeyboard shortcut to paste without formatting.Unsupported Characters: Using emojis in the job ad description is not supported. Doing so may cause all the text that follows the emoji to be deleted when the ad is saved and viewed on the careers portal.
SEEK Preview Limitations: The "Preview SEEK Job Ad" function within ELMO does not show all sections. Notably, the "Desired Skills and Experience" content will not appear in the preview, but it will be visible on the live job ad once it is posted on SEEK.
Attaching Position Descriptions and Links +
Instructions on how to create a hyperlinked text to link a PDF document into a Job Description of the Job Ad.
1. Within the job description editor, highlight the text you wish to use as the link (e.g., "Click here to view the Position Description").
2. Click the Link icon in the editor toolbar.
3. In the Link Info window, click the Browse Server button.
4. Upload your PDF document to the ELMO server. If the file already exists, skip this step.
5. Select the file, change the URL to be your ELMOURL/uploads/.
6. Go to the Target tab and select "New Window (_blank)" from the dropdown menu.
7. Click OK to create the link.
This will allow the candidates to click the hyperlinked text and it will open the attached document in a new window.
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Note on External Job Boards: Be aware that third-party job boards like SEEK often strip or remove hyperlinks from job descriptions for security reasons. If your link is not working on a job board, you may need to contact their support team directly.
Extending or Reposting a Job Ad
When a job ad is nearing its end date or has already expired, you have two main options to extend its life or relist it.
Option 1: Extend the End Date (For Live or Expired Ads) +
This method is suitable for extending ads on most job boards, including the internal careers portal.
1. Navigate to the specific job ad within the requisition.
2. Click to edit the Job Ad End Date and select a new date in the future from the calendar.
3. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
4. Ensure the main Enabled toggle for the job ad is on.
Option 2: Copy the Job Ad (Recommended for Expired Ads) +
This is the most reliable method, especially if an ad has already expired, as some job boards like SEEK may not allow a simple date edit on an expired ad.
1. Navigate to Recruitment → Requisitions and open the relevant requisition.
2. Go to the Job Ad tab.
3. Find the expired ad you wish to relist and select Copy from its "Actions" menu.
4. A new, disabled copy of the ad will be created. Open this new ad to edit it.
5. Update the Job Ad End Date to a suitable future date.
6. Review and confirm all other details are correct.
7. Click Save and Publish.
8. Important: After saving, return to the Job Ads tab and ensure the Enabled toggle for the newly copied ad is switched on. This step is crucial for the ad to appear on any portals.
Editing a Job Ad
To create or edit an existing job ad, you first need to navigate to the requisition:
1. Go to Recruitment → Requisitions → Actions → View Job Ads
2. Click Edit and make the required changes to the job ad and Save the changes made.
Managing Job Ad Visibility and Status
Controlling where and when your job ads appear is essential.
Navigate to Recruitment → Requisitions → Actions → View Job Ads
Enabling/Disabling Job Ads: If your job ad is not appearing, it might be disabled. Navigate to the requisition's Job Ad tab and check the main Enabled/Disabled toggle for that specific ad. This is a common reason ads don't appear after being copied or edited.
Job Ad Expiration due to Requisition Finalisation: If a requisition is finalised, any associated job ads are automatically removed from all portals. To fix this, you must Reopen Requisition from the actions menu, then navigate to the Job Ad tab and ensure the ad is enabled and published.
Job Ad Expiry Time: Job ads will expire at 11:59 PM on their set end date. To have an ad expire at a specific time (e.g., 4:00 PM), you must manually navigate to the Job Ad and set its toggle to Disabled at that time.
Notifications
To ensure the "Job Ad Expiring" notification is sent, it must be set to trigger "before" or "when" the job ad expires. These settings can be adjusted by navigating to Administration > General > Notifications > Job Ad Expiring > Edit.
The "Job Ad Expiring" notification will not be sent if it is configured to trigger after the job ad has expired. This is because once a job ad expires, the system cancels all existing notifications related to it.
New Candidate Applies to a Position: This notification is sent to the requisition owner and any users the requisition is shared with when a candidate applies for a job. If the requisition owner is an inactive user, notifications will not be sent.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
My job ad has expired. How do I get it running again? +
You have two options. You can try editing the existing expired ad and simply changing the Job Ad End Date to a future date. However, the recommended and most reliable method is to use the Copy function on the expired ad, set a new end date in the copied version, save it, and then ensure the new ad is Enabled.
Why is my job ad not appearing on our Careers Portal even though I enabled the channel? +
First, double-check the Job Ad Start Date to ensure it is not set for a future date. Second, confirm that the main Enabled toggle on the Job Ads list page is switched on for that specific ad, especially if you have recently copied or edited it.
Can I save a draft of a job ad without publishing it? +
Yes. You can create a new job ad and click Save without enabling any of the publication channels (like Internal Portal, External Portal, or SEEK). The ad will be saved in a disabled state, and you can return to it later to finalise and publish.
Can I attach a Position Description PDF to my job ad? +
Yes. In the job description editor, you can highlight text (e.g., "Click here to view the Position Description"), click the Link icon, and then use the Browse Server button to upload your PDF. To ensure it opens in a new tab for candidates, click the Target tab in the link options and select "New Window".