The red flags lurking in job advertisements

“No two days are the same” or “you’ll wear many hats” may sound intriguing in a job advertisement, suggesting variety and opportunities.

But Jasmine Escalera believes these seemingly benign phrases may indicate something more chaotic. “Positions described in this way often point to a deeper lack of structure,” says the careers adviser at website LiveCareer. “When roles aren’t clearly defined, you might be pulled in too many directions without support… or realistic expectations.”

Experts say jobseekers may need to become more alert to such language, which often signals “red flags” that frame troublesome workplace features as positive. They also warn its use may be on the rise.

Drawing on a database of publicly advertised roles from company websites, human resource data agency Revelio Labs identified a slight uptick in potentially euphemistic terms, such as self-starter, work under stress, wear multiple hats, multitask, and work under pressure. Appearance of such language increased from 20 per cent of surveyed advertisements in 2017, to almost 26 per cent this year.

Loujaina Abdelwahed, senior economist at Revelio, says the rise could be at least in part due to artificial intelligence (AI). When job descriptions are automated, she says, terms are more likely to be recycled and cliched language replicated. “A lot of employers don’t think of [the language] as toxicity,” she says. But with AI “you give it garbage, it gives you garbage”.

Escalera says other worrying buzzwords include “like a family” or “we only hire rock stars”, which could be signs of a culture that glorifies overwork, lacks boundaries, or has cliquish dynamics. “If you’re someone who works better with clarity and guidance, this kind of role and environment can quickly become frustrating and overwhelming.”

In ads for entry-level roles, demands for several years of experience or highly specialised skills can “indicate that the company is trying to get senior-level performance for entry-level pay”, she adds. “While you want to have some stretch opportunities and room for growth in your next role, excessive demands for a junior title can be a sign of unrealistic expectations and limited support.”

The problems flagged by this kind of language are well documented. A survey by Michael Page, the recruiter, found that almost a quarter of employees took on extra tasks within the first three months of starting a job, sometimes leading to overwhelm.

The wording of job ads can also smuggle coded information about the age, race, or gender of the ideal candidate, shaping who is likely to apply for a job. In one study by the US National Bureau for Economic Research, older workers were put off responding to advertisements that asked applicants to be “up-to-date with current industry jargon and communicate with a dynamic workforce”.

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Joyce He, assistant professor at the Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles, found ads for male-dominated jobs in industries such as engineering and finance were more likely to contain stereotypically masculine words like competitive, aggressive or dominant. 

This “can signal to potential women applicants that they may not belong in a workplace or role that emphasises those traits”, she says. “These are subtle cues – they don’t explicitly say that the workplace or role will not welcome women but they suggest an emphasis that more masculine traits and attributes are valued.”

Using “gender-neutral language”, He found, not only increased job applications from women but also from men who did not fit a “stereotypical blueprint of masculinity”.

As AI plays an increasing role in the hiring process, Escalera says human filters will need to become even more vigilant in making sure job descriptions reflect the culture and expectations of an employer. On the other hand, AI could help address the problem by leveraging big data to understand how subtle language in job ads shapes applicant behaviour.

Can applicants distinguish between red flags that indicate real problems and those that just amount to clumsy wording? Escalera advises using an interview to identify what a role entails, asking questions like, “what does a typical day look like?” and “how is success measured?” to get a sense of the real job. “These questions help determine whether the job ad is just using vague language or the company is setting you up for potential burnout.” FINANCIAL TIMES