Dating : The Lack of Love in Job Advertisements

When filling out one of those online forms on a dating website you normally state what you can offer and what you are looking for in that special someone — the perfect balance of give and take. Take that scenario into the workforce and then wonder why some job advertisements — which pretty much do the same thing as online dating websites, without the images of a candlelit dinner all set up and the promise of romance and a more personal relationship — only care about what the person behind them wants?

They follow the standard format of describing the company and the position in brief and then go into the main requirements of the job and what an applicant should have in order to apply. There is a checklist of qualities you should live up to but no mention of what you will get in return. In the online dating scenario, you get to sell yourself while also picking from candidates that have also given you just as much information about themselves for you to go on in order to make your selection.

Fine, someone could argue that the main reason behind dating is to find a life partner but isn’t the ultimate goal of a job advertisement to find an employee who will be loyal and stay within the partnership for as long as possible? Sound a lot like marriage? It should because we spend more time at work than we do with our spouses and most of the time, we have to spend more energy on growing our personal skills to keep our company and our boss happy than we ever have to in order to keep our other half content.

So why does the employer omit to add what the company is putting on the table? Maybe it has to do with location. Cities that have more high-paying jobs seem to love going on about all the luxuries you will have as an employee, from a company health plan to a free gym pass. Maybe it has to do with the kind of work itself. If the company is not really interested in what the employee has to offer and it is a job that they think anyone can do, then why should they bother to tell job seekers what they will receive in return right? Maybe it has to do with attitude, company politics, the lack of understanding of how a job advertisement should be written, the feeling that a description is not needed in times of high unemployment, the employer is just running an ad to see what talent is out there, or maybe it is a mix of all of the above or none of the above.

But a professionally written job advertisement shows a professional working environment — most of the time. It shows that the company cares for its employees and that it has taken the time to attract potential personnel so that the company can have a decent pool of people to choose from and avoid a high turnover volume.

At least the advert could refer to something like ‘salary depends on skill set’ or ‘professional work environment’ to get the fish on the hook. If not, the employer might end up using the phrase that many of us use after an unfortunate romantic encounter ‘there are plenty more fish in the sea.’