
Why do most job ads look and feel dull? - MarkPearce
I think the quality of most job ads are dull. I believe the self-promotional chit-chat and useless jargon distracts would-be candidates from applying. Shouldn&#x27;t they be written to ensure the opposite happens?<p>I&#x27;m interested in learning how job applicants feel when they read job adverts and what really makes them apply.<p>I&#x27;d also be interested in hearing from people who write job ads for their employers - and what they feel would make someone want to apply to their ad.<p>I&#x27;ve experimented with writing an ad for the industry I work in (see link). All thoughts, comments and constructive feedback is welcomed.
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chrisbennet
You’re definitely right on the uselessness of the self promotion part being a
turn off I.e. “We’re the world leader in blovation software.” (That also goes
for the recruitment firms adding a paragraph at the bottom of the job ad about
how long they’ve been in business, etc.)

[Edited] I had posted some some suggestions for making the job ads more
attractive but then I realized, as a recruiter, you can’t really change the
negative aspects of your client company’s culture. The tips I had written
would simply allow you to change your clients “messaging” to hide their
negative “tells”. Letting you know those “tells” would be a disservice the to
my fellow developers so I deleted my comments. I hope you understand.

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MarkPearce
All good. Thanks for commenting.

I believe recruiters can help employers realise the negative aspects of their
culture. I think it's our job to raise them and help employers understand why
people will/won't join them.

After all, we used to have the title 'consultant' after recruitment.

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chrisbennet
I hear you but (sadly) I just don't think it is possible to change an
organization's culture with external input.

For example; if the company views software developers as "code monkeys" their
culture is going to reflect that. To really change the culture you would need
to change the way they view developers and that seems like a tough nut to
crack.

Here is something that can tell you without giving away the "tells" that
developers use to sense a company would be bad to work for:

Convince your clients what the actual marker rate is for developers vs. what
they wish it was. If you are paying the true market rate, you can hire
developers without much trouble. As Joel Spolsky put it:

 _" Now, let’s review some microeconomics. In a free market, it is almost
axiomatic that the market always clears. That’s a technical term that means
that when somebody tries to sell something, if they are willing to accept the
market price, they will be able to sell it, and when somebody wants to buy
something, if they are willing to pay the market price, they will be able to
buy it. It’s just a matter of both sides accepting the market price."_

[https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-
you-...](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-cant-
find-programmers/)

Here's another way to convince your clients that the market rate is somewhere
higher than what they are offering: Would you still have trouble finding
developers if you paid $1 million dollars a year? No? Than the true market
rate is somewhere between what the company is offering now and $1 million
dollars.

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MarkPearce
I see your point. I think the culture is set by those leading a business. Then
again, those leading should listen to both internal and external factors that
drive culture.

In recruitment, I regularly hear 'they're too old for this position' or
'they're too experienced.' In 2017.

I challenge thinking like this by trying to find out the real objection. 90%
of the time it's a different objection that's normally easy to overcome. The
remaining 10% can't be helped. The last example was a 63-year-old engineer who
started for us last week - deemed too old and past it by an employer.

It won't change overnight, but it can change gradually.

Thanks for your comments and for sharing that link. A good read.

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MarkPearce
Link: [https://www.markpearce.net/single-post/2017/10/24/How-to-
wri...](https://www.markpearce.net/single-post/2017/10/24/How-to-write-a-
different-job-ad-for-a-Recruitment-Consultant)

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dozzie
> I think the quality of most job ads are dull.

The _quality are dull_ because most jobs are dull. Moreover, it's not like
anything different from the standard form of a job ad would convey more
information about the important aspects of the job.

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MarkPearce
Good spot - and thank you for the grammar correction.

I agree. Most jobs are boring. Unless employers can articulate what problems
the person will solve, learn and what impact their job will have on their
peers/employer.

