HOT hot HOT startup needs Rock Star dev! Only apply if U R THE BEST! Work hard/play hard! 120 hour weeks but we have kegs in the break room and four subwoofers in the game room! Just like college but no classes, except Java classes, amirite?

No, thanks.

Demanding a rockstar is a sign that you don’t know how to accomplish your goals and you want Superman to bail you out.

What does a good employment ad look like?

I workshopped my last employment ad through the LOPSA (League of Professional Systems Administrators) mailing list; I think it was improved immensely. People told me what their actual desires are:

• Above all else, clarity
• A description of what the company does
• A description of the actual duties of the advertised position
• A description of the likely future of the position or the career path of a person working in that position
• Office hours, on-call hours, weekend hours
• Skills that are actually needed
• Lists of technologies actually in use
• Goals of the group
• Professional development opportunities

And what they don’t want to see:

• Rockstar/Ninja/Pirate/Robots!
• Descriptions of how lush the HQ or breakrooms are
• “Marketing speak” about what the company or group does
• Anything that comes across as pretentious, self-aggrandizing or insincere

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that people prefer to be treated as mature adults, rather than as boisterous teenagers.