COOL IT IDEAS AND STUFF

Many IT job postings make one of two big mistakes: Either they are entirely filled with technical jargon and acronyms and mention nothing about what the company actually does, or they are just a collection of totally generic, “feel good” phrases about looking for team players, with no explanation of the technology being used or how it relates to the company’s business.

Rarely do we see a really well-written IT job ad which gets the combination right, which will make your job stand out from the crowd and actually motivate someone (the right someone) to apply. This guide will show you how to write one of those ads.

1)         Make the position title meaningful.

Even if your company’s official, internal position title is something entirely different, use a job title in the ad which makes it clear what kind of job this is. No one will get excited by a job ad for “IT Officer”. If the main focus of the job will be developing software then title the job (in the ad) “Software Developer”. Or better yet, if the person will be working mostly with a specific programming language or platform (and if it’s an important, required skill for the job) then indicate that in the job title as well, for example: “Java Developer” or “Software Developer – Mobile Applications” or “Cisco Network Administrator” or “Oracle DBA”.

2)         Say something about what the company does.

Not every company has an immediately recognizable name. What does your company do? Are you a leader in a specific industry sector? Is your company’s product or service part of a global value chain or are you the local distributor for a global brand? Does the company have a long history? Are there overseas affiliates? With just one or two well-written sentences you can make your company more than just a generic “Co. Ltd.” It’s also important to mention any unique selling points of the job -- why should people want to work there? Does the company provide training or other attractive benefits? Is the location especially convenient?

3)         Give real details of the job responsibilities.

To attract good candidates, a successful IT job ad MUST include a description of what doing the job will actually entail (that’s why it’s called a “job description”). It’s amazing how many HR departments forget this when it comes to IT jobs. The ad should give specific examples of what the person in this role will be expected to do. If you use bullet points, then put them in rough order of priority. Be as specific as you can be. “Provide user-level applications and network support for the Accounting Department” paints a much clearer picture than “Assist users with solving IT problems”. “Write elegant C# code to create new functions for our mobile payment solution” will catch you more (and more qualified) developers than “Write programs”.

If possible, describe how the job relates to the company’s business (e.g. enhancing core business applications, enabling real-time communication with branch offices, etc.). This emphasizes the importance which management places on IT, and helps make the job much more attractive.

Want your job ad to stand out? Then DON’T waste words (and sound like every other job ad) with meaningless, empty phrases like “must be a team player” or “able to make a contribution to the company’s success”. Would you really consider hiring someone who self-identified as an anti-social loner with no company spirit? Of course not. If the job is part of a specific team, then say so (for example: “Work as part of a 4-person Agile development team”). But remember that IT candidates have logical personalities. Don’t disrespect their intelligence (and sound like every other ad) by including job description filler which doesn’t actually help describe the job.

4)         Be specific about the technology.

This may be the hardest part for many HR managers and recruiters in crafting a successful IT job ad, because it requires having a basic understanding of the technology. For an IT job ad, you absolutely must include specific details of the tools and platforms which are part of the daily work this person will be doing. If the job will involve implementing some new or leading edge technology, then definitely mention that as well – IT people LOVE to work with new technologies!

Will the software developers being hired participate in all aspects of SDLC (the software development life cycle)? Will they only be coding MySQL queries to support back-end processing, or will they be involved in UI/UX development as well (and if so, with what tools)? Is version control handled with Git or with SVN? Will your business intelligence analyst need to be familiar with specific ETL or data warehouse software? Will the new system administrator you’re looking for be responsible for virtualization or cloud deployment, and has your company standardized on VMware or are you planning to evaluate Hyper-V? Will your new network engineer be expected to create standardized router configurations and be responsible for load balancing across segments? Is the company considering a subscription-based model for desktop applications, such as Office365?

OK, do you see the problem? How many of you understood everything in the previous paragraph? Ask your IT Manager for help with writing the job description (or if you are posting the ad on TechStar, ask our Customer Support rep for assistance!). Being specific about the technology shows that your company actually values and understands IT enough to describe it in the job ad. This may be the most important step in attracting the attention of the IT candidates you are looking for.

As an added benefit, if you are posting your ad on a job board which sends skill-specific job alerts to candidates (or has a detailed IT search function like TechStar’s PowerGrid ^TM), then including the key technical terms in your ad will help ensure that the job gets seen by more people.

5)         Describe REALISTIC qualifications.

Don’t list all the nice-to-haves as if they were requirements. Sure, feel free to include relevant skills which might make a difference in helping you shortlist candidates. But putting a laundry list of every conceivable technology into your job ad will just bring you applicants who might have worked with one or two of the less important ones but be lacking real experience with the critical, must-have skills that are really required for the job.

Sometimes it’s better to leave the minor skills out entirely. Remember: In our current environment, with a shortage of qualified IT people, you are competing for the candidates’ attention, not the other way around. You may need to compromise on getting everything you want in one person. Focus your IT job ads on attracting applicants who proactively choose to work with the specific technologies that your company needs.

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