The Deadly Sins of Job Description Writing on LinkedIn

Did you know that 69% of people will skip job ads with gender-biased or ageist language? But, based on our study, there are more reasons for candidates to ignore LinkedIn recruiters. At Passport Photo Online, we polled 1,000+ US working professionals to find out the most successful (and the least efficient) LinkedIn recruiting practices.

With the US unemployment rate at 3.6% as of March, and 15M+ open job listings on LinkedIn, candidates have more choice, so they tend to be picky. Indeed, job seekers will drive the job market in 2022. So, our goal was to help businesses adjust their recruitment efforts.

The crucial finding is that LinkedIn rocks the labor market. Nearly 8 in 10 working professionals feel positive or very positive about employers reaching out to them on LinkedIn about a job opportunity.

At the same time, candidates point out some employers' mistakes which destroy this excellent first impression. First of all, it's clear that money matters. About 95% of job seekers want employers to include a salary range in job postings on LinkedIn. A full 69% of job seekers said they are likely to skip job ads that lack this information.

Additionally, more than half of the respondents feel negative or very negative about gendered wording and ageist language, such as "energetic," "digital native," or "recent college graduate."

One of our biggest surprises was that "ninjas" aren't outdated. As much as 64% of US employees have a positive attitude toward rebranded job titles like "superstar," "Jedi," or "rockstar."

What about the maximum number of follow-ups? Or how do candidates feel about having to complete an interview task after submitting a resume via LinkedIn? You can find answers to those questions in the full study.