What do your job listings say about you?

I’ve made reference to a number of job openings over the past year or so, and will likely continue to do so. The majority of those job listings are pretty straightforward — what the job is, what the requirements are, how to contact the employer, etc.

Every once in a while, however, I come across a job listing that goes above and beyond. The latest job opening for Stoltz Marketing Group is just such an example.

It gets the basics of the job across. That much is a given. But it goes farther. It gives the reader a glimpse inside the walls of the shop, the environment, and the sense of humor of at least some of the people within the agency.

Now this isn’t the only one that I’ve seen. Oliver Russell has had job listings that have done something similar. More recently, Rizen Creative has come close with their job listings.

In each case, there is undoubtedly a good writer behind it. They’ve taken the basics of the job and turned it into a piece that is more likely to make the potential employee want to work at their shop.

Well done.

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3 Replies to “What do your job listings say about you?”

  1. So what do you think the anonymous craigslist job postings say? That the company posting them is shady, out to harvest resumes or is looking to test the loyalty of their employees? All of the above?

  2. That’s a good question.

    Overall, I don’t think that an anonymous job posting says that the company is shady. I think it means that they (the employer) are looking for someone who is interested in the job, and not as concerned about the company.

    I also think that potential employees are more hesitant to blindly send in a resume based on a completely anonymous job listing. I would assume that they would like to at least have an idea who is doing the hiring, and may send an email asking for those details. So the next natural question, to me at least, is why not include that information in the initial post? Save yourself a little time by answering the question before it is asked.

    I can see the argument on both sides as to anonymous job postings, and in the end the best suggestion I can make is to stick with whatever you’re comfortable with.

  3. I like this post because I hate that companies invest so little in writing quality job postings. I do, actually, think far less of companies that post anonymous ads. In the same way that the Stoltz ad exhibits a great deal of confidence and quality, ads that say “apply in person, 555 Main Street,” exhibit laziness.

    I’d be willing to bet there’s a marked difference between the job applications used at Stoltz vs. the anonymous jobs, too. There’s nothing that says “we don’t really give a crap” like tear-off generic application forms that ask for your elementary school “field of study.”

    Here’s an idea: how about an online job posting site that filters out anonymous postings, and maybe even goes so far as to rate, or allow viewers to rate, job postings for quality of content?

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