Let’s face it. If there’s anything that the majority of companies in the Tech Industry do poorly, it’s advertise their open career positions. With a few exceptions from relatively new, progressive companies, almost every job ad I’ve ever read is ambiguous, uninteresting, and does very little other than imbue me with apathy.

Is this not the opposite effect a Job Ad should have?

Let’s stop for a minute, and think about an ad. That word is short for advertisement, and according to google, that means a:

notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy.

There’s another key word. promote, which means:

further the progress of (something, especially a cause, venture, or aim); support or actively encourage.

If there’s anything that America has perfected, it’s the art of advertising. But why is this one, seemingly significant activity so incredibly awful. Time and time again, I see the mantra in our industry that great companies are built on great people. Startup CEOs and Fortune 500 managers alike claim their secret to success is their great team, and yet, when you read their career advertisements, you see phrases full of techno-babble and meaningless prattle.

I could go on-and-on about the status quo of job advertisements, but chances are that you all know, already. And if not, just follow a twitter account like @porgrammerjobs, and I think you’ll soon see. Instead, I’ll leave you with a few suggestions.

1. Beta Test your job ads. Put them in front of a focus group (how about the people that are on the team into which you’re hiring). Have them read the ad aloud. Ask them how it makes them feel. If their answer (either verbal or non-verbal) is “meh”, you should seriously re-think what you’re doing.
2. Let your hiring managers own the content. Sure, get feedback from HR, make sure you’re following the correct laws, but don’t let your non-technical people write your job ads. It makes your company look stupid.
3. Welcome to the internet. Use some analytics. Use some A/B Testing. If your job ad gets a 99% bounce rate, then please rethink your content. And your strategy to hiring. In fact, a job ad Sells Your Company. Act accordingly.
4. Think about your audience. Should an ad seeking a Senior Enterprise Software Architect really have the same tone and feeling as the ad seeking a Groundskeeper or a Manual Laborer (no offence, I’ve worked both of those jobs)?
5. Get your employees to bring their friends. Chances are, your best employees have friends that are equally capable. If they’re willing to do the recruiting work for you, you’ve likely got a great place to work. If not, that’s a definite red flag, and you need to start trying to change something.
6. If your goal is simply to put a warm butt in an office chair so you can keep the same budget you had last year (since all of your good developers have moved on), then by all means, keep doing what you’re doing.