I have a lot of friends who are looking for work. Many of the programming classes I teach are full of unemployed programmers learning new jobs skills hoping to make themselves more marketable. So I've helped research job openings on numerous jobs websites.
Wading through a list of job postings can be a chore. Sure, you want a job. Yes, you want to find a interesting company and a dream team. For some, just finding a job, would be enough in this slow IT economy.
So why is it most job posting are sooooo booorrring to read? Don't these companies want you to feel excited and motivated to send your resume? Why is it so hard to understand what they're actually looking for? What we want is a posting written in a ultra readable style that communicates what kind of job is offered. So the the best candidates will be clamoring to try for the position.
Advice for companies
When I read Jeremy Wright's post about how to rewrite a job posting I immediately felt that he was on to something. Jeremy has posted the Microsoft Jobs Rewrite article and it is a must read for anyone thinking about advertising a job opening.
Here is an excerpt:
Job Summary
If you had to give a 20-second pitch on this job to the best candidate in the world (without lying) what would you say? Include it here in bullet-point format. This will allow people to quickly skim to figure out if the opportunity is for them.
Opportunity
A one or two paragraph writeup of the job, the team, the company. Again, keep it short and sweet (and very to the point... No copying / pasting from other job descriptions, okay?).
Responsibilities
Okay, you've outlined the job, now outline what people will do. For some odd reason, applicants really want to know not just who you are and who you want, but what they'll be doing day-to-day. You'll likely want to include big picture responsibilities as well as day-to-day tasks. After writing this section, as yourself if this is a good approximation of what the best candidate will be doing, at least until they carve out a place for themselves.
Requirements
This area is key. Here are 5 simple rules:
- Be specific.
- Don't waste space.
- If it's obvious, skip over it.
- If it's descriptive, include it.
- Be honest.
Basically, we want to read this to figure out if we qualify for what you're looking for. If a university degree is flexible, say so. If you want a senior manager from a tech company, but other experience is desirable, say so.