Early Amazon employee Glenn Fleishman told Internet History Podcast that Amazon had a hard time hiring developers in its early days. We decided to run Amazon’s first known job posting (from August 22, 1994) through Ongig’s Text Analyzer software to see how his job description text scores using today’s best technology. Ongig’s Text Analyzer is… Read more »
Using the wrong personal pronoun (he, she, his, her, etc.) can turn off groups of candidates. Here are 3 examples of personal pronouns NOT to use along with synonyms I recommend. Personal Pronoun/Job Description Tip #1: Don’t Refer to Candidate as “He” Check out this first job ad below. In the second paragraph it reads:… Read more »
A talent leader asked me when she should use adverbs in writing job descriptions. So, it turns out that using too many adverbs in your job descriptions reduces your apply rate (more on that below). Reminder on the definition of adverbs: adverbs are intensifier words that give greater definition to an adjective, verb or other… Read more »
2020 Editor’s NOTE — We have the updated version for 2020 here: Top Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS Software) in 2020 Enjoy! — Rob ——————- Workday is the #1 ATS system used by Fortune 500 companies, narrowly beating Taleo. That’s what we found after a review of the 476 Fortune 500 companies that show their applicant tracking… Read more »
Do your job postings have clinical-sounding words? Do they sound “prescriptive”. Perhaps they look like an attorney wrote them — full of “legalese”. Your job posting should, of course, be an ad…not a legal contract. Check out the beginning of this nursing job ad below (analyzed by Ongig’s Text Analyzer job description software). Ongig’s software… Read more »
When Kleenex (after 62 years!) scrapped its “Mansize” Kleenex tissues (see the below tweet that helped spark the social movement for Kleenex to change), it got me thinking about what else might need to get gender-neutralized. Hi @Kleenex_UK. My 4yo son asked me what was written here. Then he asked, why are they called mansize?… Read more »
How many bullets should you use in a job description? Does your job posting have too many bullets? Great questions. I’ve been asked a bunch of these job description bullet-related questions. I did my best to answer those and more below. It’s all the best practices I know about the most effective use of bullets… Read more »
On the heels of 7 Controversial Stories About Job Descriptions, here’s another cautionary tale of poor wording in job postings. It was discovered by Wendy Lu, a self-prolaimed “Proud Disabled Woman” (vocal cord paralysis). Wendy found a job ad posted by Newsday, the Long Island-based newspaper in New York, for a general assignment reporter. It included… Read more »
Poorly written job descriptions share certain things in common. I’ve analyzed (by hand) many thousands of job descriptions and created this checklist of the”worst job description practices” to avoid. 1. Poorly Written Job Descriptions Have Long Job Titles The job title is key. It’s usually the first thing a candidate sees. Job titles with 1… Read more »
Job descriptions are in the news lately. A lot of controversy. So, I’m hoping you’re not in any of them. But, that got me digging. So, I went back a few years to find stories about controversial job postings. There’s Uber, Abercrombie, Walmart, and other lesser-known names as well. I’m starting a list here as… Read more »
Recruiting is like dating. Before Ongig, I had a great job as CEO of a dating advice company. We helped millions of single men (and some single women) become more successful at dating. Here are a few ways I found that recruiting is like dating: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” Oscar Wilde is… Read more »
Well written job descriptions aren’t easy to come by. Most JDs are written by busy hiring managers or recruiters. They read more like a legal contract than clean ad copy. Below are 7 tips based on examples of well written job descriptions I found on the web. For more tips on writing job descriptions, check… Read more »
When Cynet Systems, an Inc. 5000 company out of Ashburn, Virginia, had its job posting debacle last month, I decided not to write about it. Cynet CEO Nick Budhiraja and his team had reached out to Ongig (we have software that helps avoid such issues). I thought I’d hold off on giving my take on… Read more »
The placement of a single bullet in a University’s job description cost it $250,000 under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Job descriptions, under the ADA, can be the “evidence” that courts use to rule in a lawsuit. This is a cautionary tale for employers, especially those who consider rotating work schedule to be an… Read more »
If you want your career site to attract and convert the best candidates, it helps to borrow lessons from the best storytellers. Screenplay writers, for instance, are masters at getting us (the viewer) to sit down for: 2 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes (first 7 seasons of Game of Thrones) 22 hours and 40 minutes… Read more »
