Last word has noticed some unwelcome fallout after an IR job advert went viral on social media because of its unfortunate wording. The listing for the role of ‘executive assistant & investor relations associate’ for a London-based property firm was retweeted hundreds of times, before being hastily removed from two of the UK’s biggest job sites.
With this in mind, Last word offers some advice for those worried about accidentally writing a discriminatory, vague or just plain unproductive job advert for an IR position.
Tip 1: Make an effort to appeal to both men and women in your job advert
Not only will you be less likely to cause a storm on Twitter, but you will also attract twice as many applicants. In the job advert that went viral, the phrase ‘ability to deal with male banter’ hints that the successful candidate won’t be male. Otherwise, it would have just stipulated the word ‘banter.’
In general, it’s better not to presuppose the gender of the person you’ll be hiring. Working in investor relations may feel like working in a metaphorical male prison sometimes but unless there is a general occupational need for an employee of a certain gender – think women-only prisons, for example – it’s better not to allude to one or the other.
Tip 2: Don’t make your office sound like a frat house
Oh and while we’re on the subject of it, it’s better not to make your workplace sound like a hotbed of sexual harassment. The aforementioned ‘ability to deal with male banter’ criterion might also lead the applicant to the (not unreasonable) conclusion that your workplace condones bottom-pinching.
Tip 3: Be descriptive
Steer clear of meaningless euphemisms such as ‘good personality’ in job adverts. If you mean you’re looking for ‘someone who finds infantile jokes funny,’ write that instead. Moreover, only someone with a rare sense of self-awareness would realize he or she had a bad personality.
Tip 4: Be specific about the job’s responsibilities
Don’t post adverts with nebulous statements such as ‘will work cross-functionally on teams to improve processes’ or ‘provide support to management on special projects.’ If you can’t explain or form a mental picture of what the job involves, you are wasting valuable space in your job advert.
Tip 5: Run a language check
Always run a quick grammar and spelling check on your advert. The final line of the advert that went viral drew further incredulity with the words: ‘Patient and conscientious – great in dealing with HNWIs.’
Tip 6: Avoid acronyms
Okay, so we all know YOLO means ‘you only live once’ and even HNWIs (high-net-worth individuals) is relatively well understood. But in general, Last word warns against acronyms, IYKWIM. LOL.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2018 issue of IR Magazine.