

How not to write a job advert - swombat
http://inter-sections.net/2008/08/30/how-not-to-write-a-job-advert

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iowahansen
Talk about timing. I'm in the process of having to write a couple of adverts
myself. I tell you its hard. Especially if you haven't launched yet.

How can you get people excited without disclosing the whole thing that you are
trying to build?

What I really need is a job advert copy writer to sprinkle some magic pixie
dust on the thing that will cause talented people to send in their
applications...

Bonus link: <http://joblighted.com/statistics> lists all job boards worth
posting to.

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swombat
How many people in your company? If you haven't launched yet and you still
have a very small team (less than 10), I'd strongly recommend hiring people
via referrals and networking rather than via job ads.

~~~
iowahansen
We are 4 people right now. 3 founders and one that we brought in from the
previous company.

What if you have exhausted your network (which admittedly wasn't that large)?
How do keep those referrals coming?

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swombat
That hasn't happened to me yet, but if it did I'd find every interesting,
somewhat relevant geeky meet-up in town and start going to them. Obviously
don't openly declare you're there to recruit someone, but if you stay aware
and know how to spot hackers, you're bound to find a suitable one who happens
to be contracting or unhappy about their job... Basically, expand your network
:-)

The problem with this is of course that you don't have a clear deadline on
when you get the person, so it's best started early while you can still wait.

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jonknee
It's also a good example of how to not quote a Craigslist article. His use of
the pre tag and ghastly CSS means an absurd amount of side scrolling.

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sh1mmer
I take the guy's point that they are laying it on a bit thick, but I also
think he does lambast them a bit too much. Being excited about your company
and trying to get other people excited about it too is a good thing.

Describing employees as "rock stars" may not be the ideal approach. But, I'd
rather be in a company that's fun with a few goofy buzzword happy managers
than one that's precise as hell and every day feels like watching paint dry.

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sbt
Look, this is how you write a job ad: don't bullshit people. This ad violates
that single rule in every sentence.

People who think they are "rockstar" programmers are probably inexperienced
college kids with inflated egos. Meanwhile, the EXTREMELY FEW people in the
world who are actually as good as this ad is literally asking for are probably
wondering what this job pays. $65,000? Oh, stock options too?

People like this aren't exactly free you know, no matter what you just read in
the book you just bought at the airport.

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petercooper
What a cynic. I bet the guy behind this post would rather write one of those
horrible, dry ads that make our eyes glass over.

~~~
brk
I think he has a pretty decent take on it.

Personally I think the whole "rockstar / ninja" jumped the shark a while back.
A "rockstar" is a unique and rare individual, it's a loose definition but it
would seem to imply that not EVERYONE can be a rockstar (or ninja).

The term is getting over applied to everything these days in the startup/tech
world.

Writing job adverts is a tough gig. You need to make people want to work for
your job and relate to the position without dipping too heavily into the bag-
o-cliches or applying excessive acronym scattershot

~~~
FreeKill
Anytime I see the word rockstar or ninja in a job listing, I don't think of a
unique individual. The first thing it makes me think of is that they want
someone they can pile on totally unrealistic expectations (not enough
resources, not enough time, not enough defined requirements) but still expect
it to get done perfectly every time. As soon as I read that, I move on to the
next listing every time...

