10 rules of creating a good IT job ad

There is no one perfect recipe for a perfect job ad. However, you are the only one who has an impact during the creation. I have been preparing and publishing job offers for the last 5 years, and trust me, throughout that time I have made a lot of mistakes so I have been looking for the right patterns. I have collected a few tips which hopefully will be useful for you.

ABC: Remember – candidates are passive!

In the beginning – a little bit of theory. According to „Developer Survey” more than a half of IT employees, even if they are not actively looking for a job , are not completely closed to new opportunities.

They do not have to change their jobs but they are analyzing precisely each possibility on the market – if they have one (messages from recruiters, job boards, careers websites). In most cases, a final decision about changing the job is determined by a higher salary, development, and a chance for a promotion.

On the other hand, there are active candidates (who want to change jobs or they do not have one) but they are only 10% of the Polish market. It is more likely for them to send an application because they need it.

Conclusion: You have to get the attention of passive candidates.

Picking out the offer – top-down

The fact that salary for IT candidates is the first thing on their job offer checklist is not surprising. The second thing is localization.

Not everyone has to pay the highest salary and has the best office on the 35th floor nearby the metro station. Below you will find more factors that candidates take into consideration.

Priorities for candidates while changing a job.

My 10 “MUST HAVE” in a job ad for IT specialists:

1. Salary range & form of employment – there is no doubt that job offers with a public salary are more popular among candidates.
2.  Location – an exact address, and home office possibility (full/part-time)
3. Team –  a structure, methodology, located in Poland or around the world?
4. Project description – (what is it about, how long does it take, what is the status) and the tasks for a position. It is good to show the percentage of work (f.e. development 90%, 10% – testing)
5. Tech stack –  Do you use the latest Java version or do you plan a migration? Great, it is a sign for a candidate that you are developing. Do you work with older technologies? Do not hide it, you will avoid disappointment from a candidate in the future.
6. Requirements from candidates – “must have” and “nice to have” 😉
7. What makes you different on the market?
8. Development – how a development path looks like in your company? What kind of skills can a candidate learn? (Technical/soft)?
9. Benefits and more – sharing knowledge, support of experienced developers, workshops, or maybe conferences and meetups? What is your added value for a candidate?
10. Recruitment Process – how many levels has the process? Technical interview or a task to solve? How long is the process?

Extra tips

1. Use a language of benefits – a candidate thinks what would be his/her value on the market in the future if he accepted your offer.
2. Make sure that you know who you are looking for – sometimes unusual names of roles do not say anything. Speak to a technician or a manager – without doubt it would be easier to describe details in a job offer.
3. Imagine that a job offer which you are publishing is your business card – there is a chance that your job offer might be a candidate’s first contact with your brand. Show the best version of your company!

BE SMART! Create specific and understandable content – use bullets, bold key phrases. Say no to a wall of text. Use real photos of your employees and the office environment. Do not copy paste job offers from your competition and other companies. Do not hesitate! Ask for help from your co-workers from the marketing or EB department.

How are the others doing it (right)?

Every week at inhire.io we are analyzing and publishing dozens of job offers. 

If a job offer is well-prepared it determines the number of views and applications.

Are you looking for examples on how to do it right, and how to avoid creating an offer that includes 90% of the requirements?

Let me show you the best one : )

IT job ad – Tellyo

Tellyo does not show a salary range but they used an option “matching your criteria” which can help reach candidates faster with the same salary expectation.  They have 2 types of contracts – B2B/Permanent, also, they have project descriptions, and a very short recruitment process – only 2 stages.

Check out latest jobs at Tellyo

Frontkom

In this offer we can see that the salary range is included, and a candidate has a possibility to work from the office or 100% remotely.  A candidate can choose which option is the best for him/her, the same with B2B or Permanent contract.

What is more, Fronktom starts its offer with benefits which come from joining the company. They also added pictures of their team. i/n general, their offers are very clear and they have all of the most important information.

Check out latest jobs at Frontkom

Nordcloud

Also, Nordcloud shows a salary range in the offer.  They include information about remote work and they have two types of contracts – B2B and permanent.

There is a description of responsibilities and besides benefits, they write about additional values like why is it worth it to work in Nordcloud. What is more, each level of the recruitment process is described. Pictures and video complete the whole offer.

Check out latest jobs at Nordcloud

Each of these jobs is structured differently, contains variants of elements,  in content and message.  One thing is certain – they tell the Candidate more about what they can offer than what is expected from him/her. They precisely show the role that the employee will play, what he/she will work on and what the company gives from itself.

Reliability

The job offer is one of the components of EB. Make sure it is matched to reality. This is the only way to build trust among candidates!