4 Clichés to Avoid in Your Job Ad

No matter how technology changes the way companies sell themselves to jobseekers, job adverts will always be the crucial part to attracting talent. There are so many ways to advertise a job, but you should remember to avoid job advert clichés.

It’s easy to succumb to these trendy phrases, because they seem like the clearest and fastest way to promote the unique selling points of your company brand. The issue is, if you use them too much then the phrases become tired clichés. In order to capture a jobseeker’s attention, you need to add a bit more 'sauce' to your job advert.

Here’s how to turn those seemingly unavoidable clichés, into something much more captivating:

 

1. "Sociable team"

This phrase is quite harmless, but it is also not a strong selling point. Most of the time, a candidate will look at multiple job adverts, and all of these adverts claim to have a “sociable team”. Stand out from the rest by giving examples of what your organisation do to socialise, and how often this is. For example:

“You will be joining a welcoming and friendly team of seven people who like to socialise both inside and outside of work. We often go for lunch together on Thursdays, and have monthly team outings. Last month, for example, we played arcade games and went for a barbecue.”

Your main point here is to allow the candidate to imagine how it is to integrate with their potential colleagues, and the best way to do this is by being descriptive and specific about what you do to keep the dynamic friendly and interactive.

 

2. "Open and collaborative culture"

Just like the above, an open and collaborative culture is something which every company may claim to have, but this does not mean much to jobseekers without evidence to support it.

What makes your company culture open and collaborative? Is it how the teams work together rather than alone? For example, the position you are hiring for may require the successful applicant to collaborate with certain teams on a regular basis. Or is it the way people of different seniority levels come together to share their expertise? Certain companies, for example have reverse mentoring programmes or host feedback sessions with employees.

Whatever it is that defines your culture as open and collaborative, provide examples to the candidate.

 

3. "Growing organisation"

Don’t get it wrong, it is imperative to make it clear to the candidate that they would be joining a company that is going places, but again, you have to provide more detail. Is your company growing its products and services, workforce, geographical reach or all of the above? More importantly, how does this relate to the role you’re hiring for?

For example: “Our organisation has went from strength to strength since it was founded 19 years ago. Over the past decade we have grown and improved our services across South East Asia, and just last year, we set up 3 offices in Indonesia. We are now looking for a Marketing Executive who can manage our accounts in these regions.”

Don’t sell yourself short by simply saying you are a growing company. Use this as an opportunity to tell your story, and how it is relevant to the candidate.

4. "A forward thinking company"

Jobseekers nowadays aren’t going to want to work for a company that will probably get left behind the times, because this seems like a risk to their own career path. They need to be assured that their employer is innovative and competitive. But without any evidence, this term is just another cliché.

Okay, so how do you prove that your company has their finger on the pulse? Do you publish any content about future trends and insights? Are there any press coverage of your business leaders giving their expert opinion on changes within the industry? Have you innovated any of your products or services recently? If you can provide evidence that your company is ahead of others, then this will say that you are a forward thinking company, without you actually having to say it.

 

Yes, all of the above phrases are reflective of what candidates look for in an job opportunity. But if you use them on the job advert, without backing these claims up, then the phrase will soon become a tired cliché and the candidate loses interest in applying for the position. But if you can bring these phrases to life with examples and evidence, you will help the candidate to picture a normal working day at your organisation, and hopefully, convince them to become a part of it.

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This article is adapted from "4 job advert clichés every hiring manager should be wary of" by Susannah Timlin