A finance vacancy can have a competitive salary, a respected employer and genuine career potential, yet still attract the wrong applicants.
Sometimes the problem starts before the recruitment process has really begun. It starts with the job description.
Finance professionals are making quick decisions when they browse opportunities. They want to understand what the role involves, whether they have the right experience, what the employer expects and whether the opportunity is worth pursuing.
If a finance job description makes those answers difficult to find, strong candidates may simply move on.
For South African employers competing for experienced finance talent, a job advert should do more than list responsibilities. It should help the right person recognise that the opportunity is relevant to them.
Start with a job title candidates will actually understand
Internal job titles do not always translate well into the recruitment market.
Your organisation may know exactly what a “Finance Business Partner” or “Commercial Performance Lead” does. A candidate searching for finance jobs in South Africa may not.
Use a title that accurately reflects the role and that candidates are likely to search for.
LinkedIn’s own job posting guidelines recommend that titles and descriptions match, and that employers clearly communicate the role, responsibilities and qualifications.
A clear title also helps candidates immediately understand the seniority and direction of the opportunity.
If the role is a Financial Accountant, say so. If it is an FP&A Manager, Finance Business Partner or Credit Controller, avoid making the title unnecessarily creative.
Clarity beats cleverness in a job search.
Separate what you need from what you would like
One of the easiest ways to weaken a finance job advert is to turn it into a wish list.
Consider a role asking for:
- CA(SA) qualification
- Five years’ post-articles experience
- SAP expertise
- Advanced Power BI
- Financial modelling
- Team management
- FMCG experience
- International reporting exposure
- Tax knowledge
- Treasury experience
Does the successful candidate genuinely need every one of those things?
If not, the advert could discourage strong candidates who meet the important requirements but not every preference.
Instead, separate the criteria into essential requirements and advantageous experience.
If CA(SA) is genuinely essential, make that clear. If CIMA, ACCA or another relevant qualification could work, say so. If SAP experience is useful but another ERP background would be considered, candidates should know.
This also forces the hiring team to think carefully about what success in the role actually requires.
Tell candidates what they will actually be doing
“Responsible for all finance-related functions.”
That sentence tells a candidate very little.
A useful finance job advert gives enough detail for someone to picture the role.
Will they manage a team? Report directly to the CFO? Own the budgeting process? Present management information to executives? Manage cash flow? Work across several entities? Partner with operations? Lead an ERP implementation?
The scope is particularly important with finance roles because identical job titles can mean very different things from one organisation to another.
A Financial Manager in a growing SME could own almost the entire finance function. The same title in a large corporate might have a far narrower area of responsibility.
Give candidates context.
Don’t hide the information candidates care about
Candidates want to understand the practical reality of an opportunity.
Where is the office? Is the position permanent or contract? Is it office-based, hybrid or remote? What level of seniority is involved? What benefits are available?
And, where appropriate, what is the salary range?
LinkedIn research has previously found that 61% of candidates regarded compensation as the most important part of a job description, ahead of qualifications and job details at 49% each.
More recent LinkedIn research found that 91% of surveyed US respondents said including a salary range would affect their decision to apply. While that research is US-based and should not simply be applied as a South African statistic, it demonstrates the growing importance candidates place on pay transparency.
There may be legitimate reasons why an employer cannot publish a salary range. But if salary, flexibility or location information can be shared, making candidates hunt for it rarely improves the experience.
Our Western Cape Finance Talent Insights 2026 research also found that 63% of respondents would walk away from an opportunity if the salary was too low or unclear. Flexibility mattered too, with 44% saying they would consider a lateral move for better hybrid flexibility.
These factors influence whether people apply, so they should not automatically be treated as information to reveal at the end of the process.
Cut the corporate jargon
A job description should sound like the company, but candidates should not need an internal dictionary to understand it.
Phrases such as “drive strategic value creation across cross-functional stakeholder ecosystems” might sound impressive in a meeting. They are less useful when someone is trying to understand what they will do from Monday to Friday.
The same applies to generic phrases such as:
“Dynamic self-starter.”
“Fast-paced environment.”
“Results-driven individual.”
“Must be able to work under pressure.”
If those characteristics genuinely matter, explain why.
Perhaps the business is growing quickly. Maybe the finance team is undergoing a systems transformation. Perhaps the role supports multiple business units with demanding reporting deadlines.
Specific information makes a role more credible.
Give candidates a reason to choose you too
Recruitment works both ways.
Your advert explains what you want from a candidate, but what does the candidate gain from joining you?
This does not require several paragraphs about company values.
A few meaningful details can make the opportunity far more compelling. Mention the size and structure of the finance team. Explain who the person reports to. Highlight exposure to senior leadership, international operations, a transformation project or a clear progression opportunity.
LinkedIn recommends concise but sufficiently detailed job descriptions, including the responsibilities, qualifications, job type, location and relevant benefits or perks.
Candidates should finish reading with a realistic sense of both the job and the environment around it.
A poor job advert can cost you candidates you never knew existed
The danger of a weak job description is not only that you receive unsuitable CVs.
It is that some of the strongest candidates never apply.
You will not see their names in the applicant pool. You will not know they considered the position. There is no obvious metric showing that they read three paragraphs, could not work out whether hybrid working was available and moved on.
That hidden candidate loss is one reason the job description deserves more attention at the beginning of the recruitment process.
Better recruitment starts before the advert goes live
Our work extends across Permanent, Temporary and Contract recruitment, including Commercial Finance Recruitment, Financial Services Recruitment and Executive Search. For international businesses building teams in South Africa, our Employer of Record (EOR) offering also provides a route to employing local finance talent without first establishing a South African entity.
That experience gives our consultants insight into both sides of the hiring process, including what employers need and what experienced finance professionals are looking for when they consider a new opportunity.
A stronger applicant pool does not always start with advertising the vacancy more widely.
Sometimes it starts by making the opportunity clearer.
Define the role properly, separate the essentials from the wish list and give candidates enough information to make an informed decision. The aim is not to attract every finance professional in the market.
It is to make the right ones stop, read and apply.
Submit your vacancy:
https://ca.co.za/submit-vacancy/
Connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cafinancialappointments/
