The lessons of job ads past

As we look forward to 2023, there are some opportunities to engage candidates in a new way and leave bad practices in the past. Sometimes it’s helpful to look to the past to frame the future.

Let’s start with a quick history lesson on how people have found work in the past and how that relates to today. Before the 1900s, most jobs were found through family, church, or local area. Beginning in the 1920s and accelerating through the 1940s, newspaper ads became more prevalent. These ads were short, concise, and often very descriptive of the type of people needed (or not needed). While the discriminatory practices from the past are not acceptable today, the concise nature of the ads ensured businesses got more people interested in the work before starting to “select them out.” 

Some examples of things you find in job ads from this time:

  • The person appointed must be unmarried, or a wife without family, be able to read and write, be well acquainted with midwifery, and fully competent to take charge of the sick in the infirmary. 

  • WANTED, a Young Man, light weight, as Groom.

  • Or from Disney, seeking male artists.

With the internet age beginning in 1999 and accelerating from there, job postings got longer as technology did not limit word count or size. The  use of job descriptions as postings became prevalent. The legal purpose of a job description is to evaluate employee performance, which makes them ill suited for marketing  open roles.

As you look to 2023, remember, that technology is shrinking the screen size to that of  a mobile phone and that’s exactly where most of your candidates will start their job search. Your role in recruiting is to attract people to come to work for your organization. Think short, think concise, think attention grabbing. You’ll have time later in the process to share all the details in the job description.  

Here are some key elements:

  1. Start with an attention-getting line.

  2. Include “what’s in it for the candidate” as well as “what they can expect.”

  3. Include benefits

  4. Minimize requirements (especially those that are subjective)

With a few simple tweaks and some inspiration from the concise job ads of the past (minus the blatant discrimination!), your organization can stand out from the rest.

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Are requirements you can’t measure really job requirements?

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The rule of 3 for job requirements