How transparent should job ads be?

[TL;DR it’s gonna depend on your brand and audience. Read on for a strategic perspective on audience sentiment.]

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Transparency in job ads is a good thing, right? But after a fairly negative job ad circulated on LinkedIn recently, I wanted to respond to this question from a Communication and marketing psychology lens (I capitalised Communication, so you know I’m talking about communication theory and not words on a page).

I’ve seen a lot of different perspectives on whether a negative-focused approach works, and there were some assertions that such bold transparency equals GOOD. Because it’s deterring people, right?

There’s that binary thinking again, encouraging our brains to oversimplify things because it’s easier and more comfortable. But nuance is life.

What if overwhelming negativity in a job ad is deterring the right fits too? Did the transparency “work”?

When transparency works in job ads

All job ads should be honest. You gloss over your stinking turds and you’ll just end up attracting and quickly losing the wrong fits (and managing the world of hurt this brings to your org, employees and brand financially, emotionally and physically).

Transparency should be used strategically to filter out the poor fits but ultimately, it should still entice the right fits to apply. Here are a few examples to consider:

You have a great opportunity in a great team and your flexible working options are the reason 99% of your people choose to stay. BUT you know from exit interviews that your slow-to-progress bureaucracy and your last-millennium technology are the things that send a lot of new hires packing. Should you share that?

Next;

You provide purposeful, deeply fulfilling human care services. You’ve fostered an incredibly supportive team culture and perks that stand you apart from competitors. BUT your employees are still leaving burned out by excessive paperwork and client loads (that they never have time to utilise the perks!). You identified the issue, and you’re in the midst of overhauling ‘how you work’ to improve employee wellbeing. Should you share that?

Next;

Your organisation has a false reputation for being a slow-paced place where workers can cruise into retirement without breaking a sweat. You keep attracting lazy workers who aren’t team players – who will do the bare minimum to get paid. What you really need is a workforce of dynamic team players, excited to learn new skills and work on different projects as needed day-to-day – workers who like getting their hands dirty because they hate sitting still. Do you share that?

I’d say yes. This is transparency working well.

This is saying, ‘Hey! We know that this isn’t perfect, but the trade off is [something your ideal candidate values more highly than the less-than-ideal painpoint].’

Then it’s up to your jobseeker to figure out if they’re happy to compromise, and if they are, GREAT! If they’re not, GREAT! At least they have a realistic expectation of what’s to come and they feel good about their decision.

Because in each of these examples, we’re still presenting your challenges through a positive lens. You’re connecting with positive emotions and giving job seekers something to look forward to.

When transparency doesn’t work in job ads

Transparency isn’t as effective when your emphasis is on deterrence at the expense of building appeal. That particular viral job ad is divisive because there were fourteen bullet points highlighting the negative personal traits that ‘don’t work’ in the role, compared with only ten bullets written more positively of ‘who you are’. [Interestingly, many of the negative points could have been written positively instead.]

Maybe that approach works for that business. But for most of us, what happens with all that negativity is that many readers will get to the end of that long list feeling offended and at unease. For one, due to the meaning we as individuals apply to words based on our personal experiences, beliefs and background (e.g., ‘This will not work if you’re not intelligent / you’re not trustworthy” might evoke a sense of being attacked say, if you’re a woman who’s been patronised and overlooked in the workplace your whole career or you’ve been unfairly accused of being untrustworthy in the past.).

But also, negativity has a powerful influence over our emotions and decision-making – not necessarily in a good way.

What’s getting in the way of effective transparency

Negative sentiment

Studies have shown that negativity outweighs positivity ; negative language is more emotionally impactful and memorable. Memorable is good, right?

Well, not when it stops us from moving forward.

For example, studies have shown that negative sentiment in customer reviews is considered more helpful in deciding whether to trust that brand before giving them our money. That is, we rely on negative reviews to *avoid* making a decision that will lead us to a negative experience.

It’s possible then, that a heavily negative job ad emphasising deterrence at all costs might immediately create that sense of distrust. ‘Woh, red flags! Abort!’

A job seeker might think –

If this organisation has more negative than positive things to say, would I risk my career and satisfaction searching for the silver linings there, or should I just focus my time elsewhere?

On the flip, online articles and content that are written with a positive sentiment tend to rank better in SEO and get more clicks. Plus, consumer psychology suggests that eliciting positive emotions can significantly influence our decision-making processes and brand sentiment.

At our core, all consumers want (we’re all consumers, but in this case, candidates too) is for brands to show them how their life will improve with their product / opportunity. But when you sit with negativity, you’re not meeting this emotional need and so your copy might not be as effective in delivering your desired result.

Communication theory

Communication theory explains how we subconsciously apply reason and meaning to words and language based on our background, beliefs, demographics, education, and cultural, social and relational norms. We ‘read between the lines’. And the meaning one person applies is going to be different from the next because of our different backgrounds.

So, when trying to be transparent, you also need to be mindful of the words you’re using and the audience you’re speaking to.

I don’t just mean how a heavy use of negative language makes us feel bad and wary of your credibility as an employer of choice (no one wants to work in a toxic workplace after all – and we might assume that overtly negative employers are toxic employers). I mean your choice of words, too.

Examples:

Saying ‘You’re not tech savvy’ could be perceived as ageist if you’re a boomer (unless they need to write code, most things can be learned quickly these days).

Saying, ‘You are lazy and have an air of entitlement’ (sidenote: what lazy and entitled person actually identifies this way?) could be perceived as another boomer boss having a crack at millennials.

Saying, ‘You don’t like to work hard’ could be perceived as promoting hustle culture if you’re a woman and/or carer who might be extremely productive with their time but unavailable 24/7, even if the employer is really just after people who are focused and results driven.

I share more about recruitment communication fails in this article.

Transparent job ads should make us feel more good than bad

Ideally, you want to be presenting information and choice in a way that positively resonates with candidates and helps them get a clear, realistic idea of what to expect working with you. It shouldn't mean only talking about your shiny points, nor should it mean emphasising your warts. Above all, it should never come across as a personal attack on circumstances people can’t change.

(Noting here, an irreverent, crass, joker brand might get away with an overtly negative approach, provided there is humour, and the target audience is receptive to it.)

In my experience, the best way to be transparent is to take a more balanced approach of,

Sucky thing you might not like vs. The thing all our people love that you won’t get anywhere else.

Let’s look at some examples of balanced transparency

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Why this role?

Let’s start by busting some myths:

• ACME CO is an easy path to retirement
• ACME CO will pigeon-hole me into repetitive work
• Working at ACME CO means my work starts and ends at my job title

Now for some truths:

While we love our 9-day fortnights, we’re still a workplace where you need to dig in and do stuff. You will always be ‘on’. The people who love it here love the variation in work tasks and environments, and the support for upskilling and further training when they lend a hand to other teams.

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2.

Been burned out before? We know that most [allied health service] providers drown in paperwork and unrealistic client loads. So, we’ve overhauled how we do things here to unburden you. We’ll take care of your administrative billing and record keeping headaches, so you can focus on what you do best – providing quality care.

The only “downside”? You’re in charge of managing your client list [but that’s not scary, right? You love jumping on the phone connecting with people!]

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3.

Negative / positive requirements flip.

Instead of writing, You are not committed to your success / You lack drive in life / You’ve been in the same role for too long (again, not many people will self-identify with these character ‘traits’)

Flip that into positive language.

“Stagnating in the same role for ten years gives you the heebies. You’re hungry for transformation – like a 30-day challenge for your career that takes you from flab to fab, one plank, crunch, and burpie at a time. You will feel the pinch. But commitment = $ results.”

[See how this version provides a positive vision of their future, an idea of the work/effort required and the results to come… instead of just a dead-end ‘what you’re not’]

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Tips for writing transparent job ads that elicit positive emotions

Here are a few things to consider when writing your next honest ad:

1. Write with your ideal candidate in mind.

• What do candidates want and need from their career and life?
• What do they fear about this type of role or industry standards?
• What solution does your opportunity provide? And how will they FEEL if they succeed/miss out?

• Finally, what will they read ‘between the lines’ from your choice of language?

Writing with your target audience in mind helps you avoid drowning in entitled language that caters to ‘employer demands’ and instead focuses your message on ‘what candidates can expect .’

2. Find the silver linings

I explored the silver linings playbook in this LinkedIn carousel to demonstrate a more creative way of declaring your pitfalls without drowning in your pitfalls.

Think along the lines of,

Disadvantage (e.g. bureaucracy, slow moving)

Unique advantage (7.25hr capped days, flex start and finish, bank time accrued)

‘Yeah, the bureaucracy can be a drag sometimes. But at least you can switch off, leave early and always be home for dinner.’

The trick is to focus on the downfalls that are causing high new hire turnover and dominating exit interviews as the reason seasoned professionals are leaving. If the silver lining isn’t valuable enough to overcome the downfall, then the job seeker can see they won’t enjoy the role.

3. Be focused and strategic (don’t air every single negative thing!)

Transparency should be a strategic manoeuvre, not something you do to be ‘on trend’ or something you do to air all your grievances about all candidates and employees like, ever.

What are the gaps in your messaging that’s luring the wrong people to apply? What are the character traits, values and experiences that align best – and which ones tend to lead to poor performance or disengagement?

Again, limit your thinking to 3-5 bullets if there are several. A dirty laundry list of twenty issues can come across as entitled, demanding and inflexible (see negative sentiment above).

To help:

1. What can be condensed and overlooked or taught?
2. How can it be presented in a more positive and/or inspiring light?
3. Instead of writing your list as negative personality traits most people possessing those traits won’t even identify with (you’ll just come across looking whingy), how can you present them from the perspective of the role and not as an attack on the person (see example 3 above)?

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Well, there you have it. I think the key to transparency in job ads isn’t emphasising warts or complaining about all your perceived candidate warts, it’s all in the balanced presentation. Write job ad copy that elicits a positive emotional response and you’ll inspire the right kind of re/action.

Need help connecting with your dream-fit candidates?

Check out my job ad copywriting workshop .