Last Updated on November 26, 2021

Bad job listings.  Look out for the warning signs and avoid these jobs!

It might take a while before you perfect your resume but when you are responding to a badly written job listing it could make your job search even harder.  Question is – should you even bother to submit your resume when the job listing is badly written? What are the red flags?

What are the warning signs?

Visit any networking group or sign up on any employment website and after a while you will begin to see a pattern in the way that job opportunities are written. There are red flags and warning signs that pop up all the time and these should make you think twice about submitting your resume.

1. A badly written job description

If, after having read the job description a few times, you are still unsure of what is expected of you, it’s a fair warning that the company has no clear idea either of what they are looking for either.

2. Too many job requirements

If in the job description leaves you with the feeling that you’ll be doing the work of 2 people, you are probably right. There is a good chance that the hiring company is operating on a low budget and cannot afford to hire a full compliment of staff.  If you are expected to do more than your fair share in the beginning, chances are it will only get worse.

3.  Too few job requirements

A person with considerable experience in his/her field will understand how the position is structured and the experience and skills required to fulfill his/her duties.   Example “Editor Needed. Fast turn around time!”. Is it standard fiction or nonfiction, technical, legal, medical, news of the day or website blog? How many words? Pages don’t count.  What is the deadline? Clearly this type of requirement is far too vague.

4.  Salary expectations

If you are required to specify you salary expectations in your job application, prior to an interview, this is a red flag – this shouts out that the company is looking to get the most work at the cheapest rate.

5.  Company’s contact information is not presented on the job listing.

Ask yourself why this standard information is not listed.  What does the hiring company have to hide by not publishing this information?

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What are the red flags?

• No company name listed so that you can research them on the internet.
• No telephone number listed either so that you can do a reverse number internet search.
• No corporate email address given or physical address either.
• No contact name listed.  These are all red flags.

6.  Request for personal information

While it is common practice to include some personal information on your resume, there is an Equal Opportunity Employment Law in Israel and it is against Israeli law for the hiring company to discriminate based on:

• Age
• Gender
• Pregnancy or parenthood
• Physical disability
• Sexual orientation
• Race, religion or nationality
• Country of origin
• Political views or affiliations

7.  Hidden meanings in job requirements

What is really being said when the hiring company uses words and phrases like;

• Candidate should have a sense of humour – Does this mean that the boss is nasty and you are just expected to brush and laugh it all off?
• Fast paced environment – When you work for us you must expect a very demanding and highly pressurized work environment
• Highly flexible hours – Does this mean that your are expected to work more overtime than usual or be available after hours to make calls, send emails or take care of the company’s social media from home?
• Flexible or multi-tasker (expect to have to take on other job tasks that aren’t related to the core position. Maybe it’s a small company and everyone has to pitch in to answer the phones or monitor the social media feeds)

8.  Work from home

Are you expected to work unusual hours or late into the night to meet a deadline?  Does the hiring company expect you to use your own computer and internet connection?  Perhaps they are they trying to get out of paying for your transport costs?

9.  Motivation

Sometimes there is actually no job behind the advertisement but it’s the hiring company’s way of generating leads and getting free advertising under the guise of offering employment.  We see lots of these types of job opportunities on social media.

10. Over advertising

Lastly, does the same job advertisement keep popping up in your inbox every few weeks?  Give a bit of thought to why this company can’t hold on to their staff and why their staff turnover is so high?

Did you know that on average, in Israel, people change jobs every three years?  The number one reason – money.