Graduates call for clearer phrasing in job ads

Have you ever placed an advert for a graduate recruitment consultant, who must be a ‘self-starter’ with an ‘entrepreneurial mindset’ and something of a ‘ninja’?

If you have phrased your ad in this way, you have succeeded in using several of the most off-putting candidate descriptions as rated by graduates and the general UK workforce.

The findings, released in a report from graduate jobs board Milkround, reveal that three-quarters (77%) of graduates find job adverts deliberately ambiguous. Three in five (59%) do not understand these terms, adding they would prevent them from applying in the first place, and (68%) call for employers to write job ads with more clarity.

Some of the other most off-putting candidate requirements include ‘laser-focused’ ‘action-orientated’, ‘hit the ground running’ and ‘proven track record’.

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