There’s no better litmus test of job ad effectiveness than asking: “How many other companies are saying the identical thing our company is saying?”

In a recent search of a major job board for programmer jobs, nearly every single job ad said it had “dedicated passionate co-workers,” “tremendous opportunities for professional growth,” “a chance to make a difference,” and “our employees are the source of our organizational strength.” These were big companies, household names, and yet you couldn’t tell any of them apart. They all sounded exactly the same.

So why do so many companies use these generic, overused, and uninspiring phrases in their job ads? Self-destructive recruiting tendencies lead organizations to try and sound appealing to every job seeker on the planet. Lots of companies even track the overall number of applicants as a metric of success. But number of applicants has no bearing on hiring success.

The only thing that matters is how many of the right people apply, make the initial cut, accept your offer, and turn into high performers. This requires an effective job ad that makes your company stand out from all the others and incentivizes the high performers you want to quit their comfy jobs to come work for you.

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