Here's the job description of a Rockstar
Your key responsibilities would include the following:
Arrive on time and recheck all connections to every sounding instrument on stage. Ensure all accompanying artists also come on time and have tuned their instruments. Understand and explain the wiring on stage and rehearse movements so nobody trips during the show. …………….blah blah
Desired candidate profile: Fluent in English (even if you're performing tribal sufi rock in a language that's extinct now). Pleasing personality (98% of experienced rockstars are out of candidacy now). blah blah……… more blah..
See, the only reason you're advertising is because no one is applying on their own, right? So at least write something that makes people sit up and notice you. That job ad above won't ring a bell for even a stage electrician, forget the rockstar.
Now look at your own job ads and think: Would I have noticed this? Would I have read it at all? Would I have applied? Should anyone apply to a company where people write like this?
And it matters more now than it ever did. AI has made the right person worth ten of the wrong one — and every skilled person has more options than they can use. The big risk a great candidate carries isn't failing to find a job. It's getting hired by a company like yours. That's if you write job ads like the one above.
But you're not such a bad place to work either, are you? Then why write like that?
What — you don't write those ads, your HR does? That's all the same. The only reason to delegate something is that someone else will do it better than you. A job advert is public speak. Does your HR write your press releases too?
Okay, let me help
I'll suggest you write your job adverts yourself. But if you've become a big CEO already, here's a simple method, so at least whoever writes them is trained in it.
Mindset shift first
Think like a marketer, with the right candidate as your customer. Imagine the candidate walking through a mall and you're one of the shopkeepers. First job is to get seen. Second is to make the customer take notice. Then you fight inertia — make it easy to engage. Last, you put your best closer up front. Job advertising is no different. Your entire focus is on the customer, not on yourself. You don't matter. The customer does.
Who should write
Strangely simple. A writer should write. That you never cared for this is the irony. Even candidates get a writer to write their resumes. If writing every ad is too much effort, get a writer to build you a template, then re-use it — with some brain applied each time.
The job advert template
Job Title — this is where you gain attention in the mall. Tempting to think whackier titles get noticed, but it's not universal. Aspiration applies. Someone who has reported to a "VP of Marketing" and aspires to it won't be moved by "Marketing Ninja", however cool it sounds. Review your candidate type, industry and region, then decide between the conventional title and the rebel one. Better still, A/B test — job ads make it easy because the outcome is measurable. Don't judge by the count of resumes; judge by the quality of the right-fit candidates applying.
About the organization — this is where your CEO self makes its biggest contribution. Your HR doesn't see the organization the way you do. Nobody does. Only you hold the big picture and the vision you're heading toward. Once written, it's re-usable for a long time. So write it once, keep it brief, treat it like your organization's elevator pitch.
About the job — DO NOT CUT & PASTE THE JD HERE. Treat the JD as a candidate repellent; use it when advertising for your competitors. Paste this on the HR wall: "JD loses Talent." Replace it with JA — Job Attraction. Write about why the job exists, not the mechanics of doing it. The JA for a Rockstar is to elevate the souls of those who live for rock. Every role has that purpose. A doctor's is to fight disease. An engineer's is to reduce human labour and solve problems. Find the JA for every role. Mostly re-usable. Who writes? The writer writes. Good, you're learning fast.
Desired candidate profile — this is the NOT gate. Its job is to gently tell applicants "this might not be for you." A soft gate — it won't force-stop anyone. Keep it to one line, two at most. Beyond that, nobody's reading. And don't repeat the qualification and experience the job board already captures — repetition just tells candidates "we're careless about what we write."
Why should you work with us — most boards don't have a slot for it, so make one, or write a blog with this title and link it. This is the employer's version of the magic question "why do you want to work with us." In this section, pour your heart out. This is your Romeo-under-the-window moment. Play it to the gallery, CEO.
Compensation — confident employers say "we'll pay the best in industry." Giving a range is fine. If salary isn't a limiting factor, say so. You don't want another NOT gate here.
Flashback
Who should write? A writer should write. Name a candidate repellent? The JD that HR writes. What replaces it? JA, written with brains. What's a NOT gate? A desired profile written long and complex. When writing a job ad, who matters? The candidate. Only.
Want ready-to-deploy templates for the things in HR that actually decide whether you win the talent game? That's exactly the kind of clarity plugHR builds into your business. Talk to plugHR.
Originally published on the plugHR blog.