Entry-Level Job Postings: A Writing How-To
I remember reading the entry-level job postings and interviewing for my first job. I went to school in Pennsylvania and planned to find my first fulltime gig somewhere between Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. I applied to jobs everywhere and went to so many of those places to interview. I desperately wanted a job, so if someone asked me to come in, I showed up.
That was not a good idea. I drove almost 6 hours to some office space in West Virginia for one gig to find out it was a Ponzi scheme. For a radio interview, I sat in the back of a greasy pizza shop. There was even one where every other person in the waiting room had a felony conviction they were casually discussing while we waited for the group interview to start. Entry-level marketing is a real class act, y’all. Note sarcasm.
While the experiences and roles were entirely different, all of these jobs had one thing in common: they all had terrible job postings.
I mean, clearly, they were overselling a little on the Ponzi scheme. I’m confident the radio one said something about a go-getter. They clearly said a lot without saying anything because I would have opted out of these experiences more quickly.
That’s the only point of a job posting for entry-level roles. You need to tell them why this might suck and allow them to buy in or opt-out.
Drop The Bullets In Your Entry-Level Job Postings
Often these job postings suck because they are entirely made up. When there are no requirements, I watch hiring managers start to fill in the gaps with a wish list like some kid when Santa asks what they want for Christmas.
Enough already.
Entry-level job postings are the most straightforward roles to write because you don’t need to understand technical requirements. You need to write something that describes reality.
In this video, I want to tell you how to describe reality with something I call a job pitch. It’s a three-sentence formula.
If you’re interested in a more comprehensive how to for writing better job postings, buy my online course. It’s an easy to use, online tool and training to take your job postings from good to great. I’ll teach you what I’ve learned writing 1000+ job postings, from entry-level to the C-suite.
Kat Kibben View All →
Kat Kibben [they/them] is a keynote speaker, writing expert, and LGBTQIA+ advocate who teaches hiring teams how to write inclusive job postings that will get the right person to apply faster.
Before founding Three Ears Media, Katrina was a CMO, Technical Copywriter, and Managing Editor for leading companies like Monster, Care.com, and Randstad Worldwide. With 15+ years of recruitment marketing and training experience, Katrina knows how to turn talented recruiting teams into talented writers who write for people, not about work.
Today, Katrina is frequently featured as an HR and recruiting expert in publications like The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes. They’ve been named to numerous lists, including LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Job Search & Careers. When not speaking, writing, or training, you’ll find Katrina traveling the country in their van or spending some much needed downtime with the dogs that inspired the name Three Ears Media.