If your hiring process is flooded with applicants who don't fit the role — or if the strong candidates simply aren't applying — the most likely culprit isn't the platform. It's the job description.
Most job descriptions are written for legal and HR compliance, not candidate conversion. They describe the role in terms of what the company needs rather than what the candidate experiences. Long on requirements, short on reasons to care. They describe a job, not an opportunity.
What a weak job description looks like
The patterns are consistent across almost every badly performing listing:
A generic opening: "We are a fast-growing company looking for a talented individual to join our team." This could be any job at any company. It creates no differentiation and gives strong candidates no reason to prioritise your listing over the next one.
Requirements written as a wish list. Every nice-to-have becomes a requirement, which drives away qualified candidates who don't tick every box. A widely cited Harvard Business Review analysis found that women are significantly less likely to apply when they don't meet every listed requirement, while men apply when they meet roughly 60%. Overstuffed requirements lists cost you a disproportionate share of strong, diverse candidates before a single application is submitted.
A vague role description: "You will support the team on various projects as required." This tells a candidate nothing about what success looks like, what they'd actually spend their days doing, or what career progression exists. Senior candidates won't bother.
Company copy that reads like a website header: "We are passionate about delivering results for clients." No evidence, no specifics, no human voice. No reason to believe it.
What strong employer branding actually does
Employer branding isn't a LinkedIn Company Page banner or a careers section on your website. It's the consistent, specific, human case for why someone should choose your company over the alternatives.
The most effective employer branding tells three stories: what it's actually like to work here day-to-day, what your employees have achieved and where they've gone, and what kind of person thrives here — and who doesn't. When these stories are told consistently and with specifics, they act as a filter. They attract candidates who fit and deter those who won't.
The impact on candidate quality
When we rewrite a client's job descriptions and employer brand materials, the first visible change isn't an increase in applications. It's a decrease in unsuitable applications — which cuts screening time — combined with an increase in passive candidates who reach out directly rather than applying speculatively.
Senior and specialist candidates rarely apply for roles they're not genuinely interested in. They research. They form an opinion about whether the company sounds like a place worth working. A weak employer brand is a conversion problem at this stage of the funnel — and it costs you the candidates who are most valuable.
Where to start
Audit your last five job descriptions. Would you apply for this role based on what's written? Is there a specific, human reason given to work at your company? Is the role described in terms of outcomes rather than tasks?
If the answer to any of those is no, you're not presenting your company at its best — and the candidate pool you're attracting reflects that.
If bad hires are a recurring problem, it may start even before the interview. See how much a bad hire actually costs →