{"id":4311,"date":"2014-01-21T08:58:07","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T16:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=4311"},"modified":"2023-05-15T10:56:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T17:56:04","slug":"9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Reasons Your Job Ad Stinks"},"content":{"rendered":"

How often have you applied for a job that you didn\u2019t really want?<\/p>\n

Our guess is never, unless you\u2019ve been under hard times. Job seekers, particularly the high quality candidates, don\u2019t apply for jobs they don\u2019t want. We know, we know \u2013 duh.<\/p>\n

However, judging by the quality of some of the job advertisements seen on the internet today, some recruiters and hiring managers believe people like applying for meaningless, rote-activity positions with companies who will never appreciate their hard work and can\u2019t correctly spell \u2018sails team\u2019. In the race for the top candidates, a great job ad can mean the difference between finding who you are looking for and\u2026 not.<\/p>\n

Awful job ads are not only a complete waste of money, they can also be damaging to your employer brand. Do you write job ads that make job seekers blink in disgust and click on to the next screen? Sometimes it\u2019s hard to tell. To help you sniff out your own bad habits, here are 9 ways to really make your job ads stink:<\/p>\n

1. Vague job title<\/h2>\n

40% of job seekers say they regularly see job titles that make no sense. Ask someone outside of the organization what they think the job title means. Perhaps your organization uses words to distinguish between ranks (executive, associate, junior, senior, head, lead, direct) or vague titles (consultant, manager, agent, officer, representative, analyst). These words are used in many job titles and need clarification in order to attract the candidate with the right skill. Using a vague job title will also lower your rank in search engines, which means many potential candidates won\u2019t even begin to look at your advertisement.<\/p>\n

2. Meaningless superlatives<\/h2>\n

You know when you meet someone and they\u2019re just a little bit too<\/em> excited when offering you a bite of their delicious, fresh tuna sandwich? Their enthusiasm makes a red flag go up. Nothing can be that good. Job ads can create this same reaction in job seekers by overusing meaningless superlatives like \u2018fantastic!\u2019, \u2018super friendly!\u2019 and \u2018cool!\u2019. Write an interesting job description for an exciting job, and you won’t have to tell folks the job is awesome – it’ll be obvious.<\/p>\n

3. Focus only on \u2018check the box\u2019 skills.<\/h2>\n

Particularly for technical jobs, listing experience like \u201cHTML, CSS, Java Script\u201d will weed out all the candidates who don\u2019t have that knowledge. However, once you\u2019re down to about 50 applicants, most of them only just able to tick the box on your minimum requirements. Think bigger. What makes your ideal candidate stand out from the rest? What do you love about your best employee? Show how you envision them using their skills, like this great example that came out a few months back from San Francisco based design studio, Mule:<\/p>\n

\"Good<\/a><\/h3>\n

4. Sound like an ass<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re all for setting high standards, but possibly the job advertisement isn\u2019t the place to communicate your expectation that someone will perform effectively in a demanding work environment and show resiliency to stress. Funnily enough, it makes people worry about being in a demanding work environment and balancing stress. Phrases like \u201cWill be held accountable for the technical accuracy of their own work\u201d also are a turnoff. These statements are true for most workplaces and stating it in a job ad makes the work environment look pedantic and brutal.<\/p>\n

Rephrase high expectations in an excellence mind frame with plenty of purpose. Phrases like \u2018Takes pride in work.\u2019 or \u2018Enjoys pushing the limits\u2019 are inspiring and challenging rather than just making you sound like an ass.<\/p>\n

5. Clog it with meaningless phrases<\/h2>\n

According to a Monster survey, over half of all job seekers are turned off from applying for a job by jargon in the job advertisement. If you have used any of these phrases lately, think again.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u2018Self-motivated\u2019,<\/li>\n
  • \u2018Dynamic\u2019,<\/li>\n
  • \u2018Thrive in a fast-paced environment\u2019,<\/li>\n
  • \u2018Team-player\u2019,<\/li>\n
  • \u2018Customer-focused\u2019,<\/li>\n
  • \u2018Hit the ground running\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    It suggests you don\u2019t really know what you\u2019re looking for and that the company lacks creativity and individual identity. Consider the brand of your company. Communicate that brand with the language you choose. No more clich\u00e9s!<\/p>\n

    6. Bury real responsibilities in corporate jargon<\/h2>\n

    In an effort to be inspirational, many job advertisements are just plain vague. The role \u2018is a key part of our client solutions team\u2019 or \u2018works closely with senior management on strategic decisions.\u2019 Describe exactly what the job is in the first two sentences, or you\u2019ll frustrate seekers and have people apply who don\u2019t really understand what you need.<\/p>\n

    7. Waste the first sentence<\/h2>\n

    Here\u2019s a typical example found by Doris and Bertie:<\/p>\n

    Senior Solutions Designer, City of London \u2013 London City and West End, London<\/strong><\/p>\n

    My client is currently recruiting for a Senior Solutions Designer. This is a senior position in the Solution Design team, working closely with external clients and all internal teams. Key requirements: Key to this role is the ability to…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u201cMy client is currently recruiting for a Senior Solutions Designer.\u201d Uh, no kidding! We got that from the fact that the advertisement is for a Senior Solutions Designer by a recruitment agency. First impressions count. The first sentence of a job advertisement often shows up in the search engine results snippet, making a stupid first sentence even stupider looking. Every single one of those characters counts. Make your first sentence about the candidate or your awesome job. Something that makes job searchers say, \u2018yes! That\u2019s what I want.\u2019<\/p>\n

    8. Grammar and spelling mistakes.<\/h2>\n

    Particularly if you have listed \u2018good attention to detail\u2019 as one of your requirements. Always, always, always get two people to read the job advertisement before you post it.<\/p>\n

    9 List blindingly obvious \u2018minimum expectations\u2019<\/h2>\n

    Many ads list minimum expectations at the end of their advertisements to try and filter out the excess applications. Requirements like a UK visa to work and minimum 5 years experience unfortunately don\u2019t prevent the desperate and unqualified from applying. They do often prevent the perfect candidate with technically only 3 years experience who would happily relocate from applying.<\/p>\n

    If you are ready to create stand-out job advertisements that attract kick-ass candidates, avoid these job advertisement faux pas and write for your perfect person. If you wouldn’t apply for a job with the ad you just wrote, it’s a darn good sign that it’s time to rewrite it!<\/p>\n

    Image courtesy of Sira Hanchana.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Awful job ads are not only a complete waste of money, they can also be damaging to your employer brand. In the race for the top candidates, a great job ad can mean the difference between finding who you are looking for and\u2026 not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[110,114],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n9 Reasons Your Job Ad Stinks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the race for the top candidates, a great job ad can mean the difference between finding who you are looking for and\u2026 not.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"9 Reasons Your Job Ad Stinks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the race for the top candidates, a great job ad can mean the difference between finding who you are looking for and\u2026 not.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zippia For Employers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zippia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-21T16:58:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-15T17:56:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Stinky-Job-Ad.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Steele\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ZippiaInc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jenn Steele\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/\",\"name\":\"9 Reasons Your Job Ad Stinks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-21T16:58:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-15T17:56:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/08314e2cf14b589a12bb79c51e244414\"},\"description\":\"In the race for the top candidates, a great job ad can mean the difference between finding who you are looking for and\u2026 not.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/9-reasons-your-job-ad-stinks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"9 Reasons Your Job Ad Stinks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/\",\"name\":\"Zippia For Employers\",\"description\":\"How to find the best employees.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/08314e2cf14b589a12bb79c51e244414\",\"name\":\"Jenn Steele\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e5ab6aee56e035953065cc1aee56054?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e5ab6aee56e035953065cc1aee56054?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jenn Steele\"},\"description\":\"Jen Steele is a dynamic, results-driven leader with over two decades of experience in the technology and marketing industries. 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