亲爱的安妮：我负责为我们部门招聘新人，目前正在考虑如何描述我们所需要的能力和经验。我们部门负责社交媒体营销。这是公司的一个全新领域，所以之前的职位说明都无法作为模板，而且我在互联网上找到的同类职务说明都非常无聊。既然我们要找充满活力和想象力的人去做有趣的、有创意的工作，职位描述是否也应该有趣和有创意？这种想法是否有些疯狂？您或您的读者有什么建议吗？——J.J.

    亲爱的J.J.：一点都不疯狂。LinkedIn招聘总监布兰登•布朗解释道：“职务说明通常只是招聘经理工作清单中的一项，所以职务说明最后往往变成了资格要求的枯燥罗列。”这无疑是在浪费机会。他说道：“受欢迎的候选人会有很多职位可以选择，所以你如何让自己的公司脱颖而出？正确的职位描述，通常是公司抓住人才眼球的第一次，同时也是最好的机会。”

    布朗在这方面有丰富的经验。他在2010年加入LinkedIn时，这家社交媒体网站仅有约500名员工。如今，该网站在全世界30个城市的员工已经超过6000人。以下是LinkedIn编写职位说明时的一些诀窍，相信可以给你相中的人才带来惊喜：

    使用容易理解的职称。“创造性”的职称——比如用“办公室忍者”来代表行政助理，用“品牌先锋”来代替社交媒体专员等——不利于搜索，可能会让不了解其意义的求职者失去兴趣。

    采用诚恳的会话式文风。许多招聘广告都有“职位概述”这样的标题，然后是两三段行业术语。真是让人昏昏欲睡。相反，布朗建议开门见山，直截了当地提出“为什么要加入我们？”然后用两三句话来回答这个问题。

    同样，某些招聘广告冗长的“职位要求”清单，可能会在一堆废话当中，含蓄地提到工作的缺点。这是错误的。布朗说道：“招聘广告要反映现实，这非常重要。如果一份工作因为某些原因会特别艰苦或具有挑战性，要在招聘广告中说出来，就像在与求职者面对面交流一样。可以列出一个‘这项职务最糟糕的一面’子目录。”

    例如，LinkedIn增长非常迅速，以至于许多基本的程序尚未能完全开发，不得不边做边完善。如果你也存在这样的问题，可以直接说明情况。布朗说道：“客观地介绍职务的情况。你肯定不希望新人在入职后才收到‘意外之喜’。”

    宣传公司的品牌。LinkedIn对不同行业的18,000名员工进行了调查，研究吸引他们接受新工作的因素，其中有56%表示雇主在就业市场的品牌是重要的影响因素。布朗说道：“人们希望能爱上自己工作的地方，所以你必须讲清楚为什么人们会喜欢和你们一起工作。”抛弃那些枯燥的公司历史简介，用两三句话来解释你的公司现在为什么能鼓舞人心。

    避免套话。不要使用枯燥无味的标准用语，例如“契合我们的文化，符合公司的价值观”等，应该提供一些关于公司文化的具体信息——比如可以讲一下你每天早上为什么愿意来这里上班。

    Dear Annie:I’ve been put in charge of hiring a few new people for our department, which does social media marketing, and I’m trying to come up with a way to describe the talent and experience we’re looking for. This is a pretty new area of the company, so there aren’t any old job descriptions around here that I could use as a template, and the ones I’ve been looking at online are mostly so boring. Is it crazy to think that, since we’re looking for dynamic, imaginative people to do interesting, creative work, the job description should be interesting and creative too? Do you or your readers have any suggestions? — Just Janet

    Dear J.J.:Not crazy at all. “Job descriptions are usually just an item on a hiring manager’s checklist, so they end up as a dry list of qualifications,” explains Brendan Browne, director of recruiting at LinkedIn. That’s a wasted opportunity. “Candidates in demand now have a choice of jobs, so how are you going to stand out?” he says. “The right description is often your first, and best, chance to catch the eye of the right talent.”

    Browne has had some experience with this.When he started at LinkedIn in 2010, the social media site had about 500 employees. It now has over 6,000, in 30 cities worldwide. Here are a few of LinkedIn’s tips for writing a job ad that will wow the people you want to attract:

    Use recognizable titles.“Creative” titles — like Office Ninja for administrative assistant, or Brand Champion when you mean social media specialist — aren’t search-friendly, and will likely put off anyone who doesn’t know what they mean.

    Keep the tone candid and conversational.Lots of ads feature a heading like “Job Overview,” followed by two or three paragraphs of jargon. Yawn. Instead, Browne recommends getting quickly to the point, with “Why Join Us?” followed by two or three sentences that answer the question.

    Likewise, long lists of “Job Requirements” in some ads often include a veiled reference to a drawback of the job, buried in verbiage. That’s a mistake. “It’s essential that the ad reflect the reality,” Browne notes. “If there is something that makes this role especially tough or challenging, say it as if you were speaking to the person. Put in a ‘Worst Part of the Job’ sub-head.”

    LinkedIn, for instance, is growing so fast that a few basic processes aren’t fully developed yet and have to be improvised on the fly. If something like that is true in your shop too, briefly say so. “Be authentic about the job,” says Browne. “You want no surprises for new hires later.”

    Promote your company’s brand.When LinkedIn surveyed 18,000 employees across various industries on what would lure them to a new job, 56% said an employer’s job-market brand was a big influence. “People want to love where they work, so why someone would love working with you has got to come screaming through,” Browne says. It helps to replace a typically dull list of details about the company’s history with two or three sentences explaining why your business is exciting now.

    Avoid buzzwords.Instead of eye-glazing boilerplate like “Fits well with our culture and the values consistent in our organization,” offer information about the actual culture at your company — maybe by mentioning why you like coming to work in the morning.