How to write a job post that filters out the wrong people

Bosses across the country are complaining into their coffee that “nobody wants to work anymore.” Baloney.The talent is absolutely out there.They just aren’t applying to your boring job postings.Let’s be real about what happens when you try to hire right now.

You post a role, go to lunch and come back to a pile of 43 useless applications.Three of them live out of state and want relocation cash you don’t have.

Ten don’t even have the required state license.The rest clearly just mindlessly tapped “Quick Apply” on their phones while sitting on the train.Small businesses don’t have the profit margins to sift through hundreds of garbage resumes just to find one decent human being to interview.

If you actually want to hire quality talent, you need to understand one word: Friction.A good job post shouldn’t sound like a desperate plea for a date.It should act like a giant bouncer at the door.

You want to scare the wrong people away, so you only waste breath on the heavy hitters.According to ZipRecruiter data on recently hired workers, 80% of employers land a quality candidate within the first day of posting a job.The other 20% probably wrote a bad job description. Additionally, 46.7% of job seekers would feel more seen by employers if job descriptions were more detailed, according to ZipRecruiter’s Q1 job seeker confidence survey.The first mistake happens before they even read the ad.Stop writing job titles to stroke your own ego or match your internal HR spreadsheets.

“Associate, Client Success Operations”? Nobody is typing that into a search bar.They are searching for “Account Manager.”Small businesses love to pull this stunt to sound edgier than they really are.

They post a gig for a “Marketing Ninja” or a “Sales Rockstar.” Listen, nobody is searching for ninjas on a Tuesday morning.If you get cute with the title, search algorithms are going to ignore you.

Use normal words.Should you post the salary? Yes.End of story.ZipRecru...