The coded words of job adverts that reveal important clues (opens in new tab)

As an interviewer, I always have the candidate’s resume in front of me. I read from it, and reference it directly. As an interviewee, I do the same thing with the job description. When it comes time for me to get my questions in as a candidate, I get clarification on what some words mean in the context of the role. I declined to move forward for a role at Amazon because it was clear the interviewers were not familiar with the JD and I consider this a major red flag, especially for a place like Amazon that has extensive interviewer training.

When I write JDs, I look at every word and ensure my HMs really mean what they say. I reject boilerplates when they don’t fit.

I consider these essential to preventing mishires, which are expensive to correct and a terrible experience for the candidate.

"Although coded language in job adverts can crop up anywhere, these words tend to arise more often in postings for smaller companies and start-ups, say experts. “These types of companies have evolving priorities, making it difficult to write job descriptions for different careers,” says Renata Dionello, chief people officer for ZipRecruiter, a New York-based digital job marketplace. “This is when we see broad terms, clichés and catch-all language.”"

For startups, the job description is often written by the (mostly) technical founders. They may not be familiar with the subtilties of writing job descriptions.