Fairy Tales or Job Ads?

Since the start of January I embarked on my quest to level up so I could be qualified for remote work at an international company. I've had low confidence, thinking I'm not good enough to work for international clients but after a few fairy tales I've found my courage.

Which fairy tales you ask?

Well almost every job ad I read was in a way a fairy tale. You have to understand I'm 26 but I started working when I was 10.

Job ads used to be a source of information which had to pull your attention and give you all the necessary info so you could make the best decision.

Now, they are cute stories which use vague terms with lots of letters that have no purpose except to give you the chance to paint a lovely subjective story in your head which more often than not is completely wrong.

It's as if the companies forgot that a job ad is the first introduction they make towards a potential candidate, after which comes the website and then the first human contact, either through email, phone call or an interview.

So it's confusing when I see ads with made up terms which are only being used inside the company and nowhere else.

Ads where the company highlights their long tradition, knowledge and success in the industry yet they are searching for a senior developer with 3+ years of experience in a technology which hasn't even been officially released yet. For a worthy candidate this will seem unknowledgeable or highly unprofessional.

Then there were ads which promise everything because they need a GOD.

The ad title might have been searching for a designer but after the interview it seemed like they wanted a new CEO, cause the position had only 10% to do with frontend design yet 90% with redesigning the hierarchy and corporate departments to be "more UX friendly".

Others had high demanding requirements with 10+ years of experience and active project development so I shared them with my colleagues who are in the industry for at least that long. Their approach is simple, they read the ad and if the benefits are satisfactory they check the company website.

NO!

Not the info but the code, after that they search for past projects and clients which they also check, be it through reviews or simple inquiry by email. Lots of companies fail at the first step, the website code.

Either it's messy because they tried to adapt a bought theme but it didn't go too well. Second most common deal breaker might be awfully sloppy coding which hurts your eyes when you try to read it. This information and experience forms the first impression of the company as well as their business ethics, working environment and capabilities of their managers/employees.

The ad acts as a cover, it's content as the intro and your web page as the first chapter. Don't misunderstand the book reference as my approval of fairy tale ads, as every reader knows if the tale conflicts the expected/promised against what it really IS to the point of disappointment you drop it, moving on. Sure you throw a glance back to see how much worse it actually turned out to be, I mean humans love being right as much as they like to watch a catastrophe unfold.

So please understand that a job ad isn't a fairy tale and we are not kids waiting for a bed time story. We are young adults, who have energy, ambition, ideas and skills to achieve set goals in ways you might have never thought possible.

Therefor when writing a job ad be honest, precise and informative. Don't use vague terms like flexible work hours, say it like it is 40h/week with the choice of distributing 5 hours how you like. This is precise, informative and honest, unlike flexible 40h/week which to me would mean that I'm allowed to distribute those 40 hours how ever I like as long as I don't breach any deadlines.

Also the salary should NEVER EVER be a taboo, unless you are publicly hiring one of the chief executives. Let go of that silly American taboo standard and join us in Europe where we openly discuss our salaries, it's even encouraged to do so. Imagine that...

While at the subject of salary, keep it honest, precise and informative. Give me an hourly number not the silly American yearly income number. Personally, I don't work a whole year on one task maybe a few days at most. So stop using big numbers as honey bait, $75,000 a year sounds amazing but it's around $36 per hour.

Worthy candidates will crunch the numbers with ease, so you are just wasting characters in your form. Another thing is that ambitious and creative people with appropriate skill level won't stay in your company for a whole year.

Unless the position offers enough dynamic & interesting challenges for the person to grow at a satisfying pace. Even if you satisfy that requirement but the management doesn't have a growth/promotion plan for that person they'll walk away.

It's an open market, the demand for quality individuals is always on the rise but the corporate environment is still in the past and due update is necessary. So let's start by being honest, precise and informative with each other.

You'd be surprised how motivated a person can be to help you out with advice and their time when you are honest, precise and RESPECTFUL ;)