

Ask HN: Developers - what about a job ad makes you want to apply? - DanBC

There are many examples on HN of people discussing the problems of job ads.<p>So, what features would a job ad have that would make you want to apply?
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obvioustres
I want to know:

What problems the company is solving, what problems my team is solving and
what I would be solving.

Work habits / structure of the team that I would be working for.

I am attracted to ads that feel like they were written by a passionate
engineer (or technologically inclined manager). These ads have specific
details about the technologies being used, and the problem being solved that
only a hands on engineer would really know. When a manager / HR / recruiter
writes in generalities, it gives me the impression that the team does not
really know what they are doing and they don't know who the need / want.

Only list required skills that are actually required for the job. And don't be
afraid to be specific. I always like to see the phrase: Experience with
SpectificSkill(tm) or willing to learn.

I think the key is be know what you want and to be honest and realistic in
your ad. If you want to attract the right people then be specific! You want
the people applying to have confidence in your company. Ads with: "Super
hacker ninja who dreams in code needed to deploy web-scale technologies to our
next-gen social site in the cloud" only tell us that the person who wrote the
ad actually has no clue who is needed for the team. You are not going to get
the right talent with an ad like that.

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codegeek
I am always interested more in a job ad that talks about the team structure
and the people I will be working with. If you copy/paste required skill sets
but provide absolutely no insights on _how_ a prospective candidate will be
utilizing those skills on the job, it is of no use. You don't need to be cute
or anything but try and explain the job in a way you would explain it while
interviewing someone in person or meeting someone over coffee. A good balance
of human/informal touch and professionalism.

The worst job ad is one where all you have is a list of skill sets, required
number of years, some hip keywords (ninja etc) and cute stuff like "unlimited
soda" but no real description of how a day will look like while at that job.
Don't get me wrong. These list of checklist items are not bad but without any
context, these are meaningless for me as a prospective candidate.

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chrisbennet
I look for pay range first Then the skills required and "nice to have". Then
the problems they are solving to see if they are interesting.

The positions that interest me are ones that aren't 1 dimensional: not just
GUI, not just algorithms, etc.

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shmapf
Hackathons / Hack weeks

