A job that gets no applications is not always underpaid. More often, it gave the reader nothing to decide on — so they moved to the next one.

A title that names the job

"IT developer" or "IT engineer" attract nobody, because nobody searches for that. Candidates search for a technology and a role: "Back-end Node.js developer", "Flutter mobile developer", "React front-end integrator".

A precise title reduces the number of applications and increases the number of useful ones. That is the point.

The salary, even as a range

This is the fix with the largest effect. A job without a salary reads as a job below market, including when it is not. Strong profiles, who already have a role, will not start a conversation to discover a number.

An honest range, even a wide one, is enough. If you are unsure where you stand, observed salaries by technology give a starting point.

Describe the work, not the ideal company

Three quarters of adverts spend their first paragraph on the company and one line on the job. Invert that. A developer wants to know:

  • what they will work on — a product, a rebuild, maintenance;
  • with whom — alone, in a team of three, reporting to whom;
  • with what — the real stack, including the old parts;
  • what is expected in the first three months.

That level of detail does not scare off good candidates. It filters out the ones who would have quit after two weeks.

Separate must-have from nice-to-have

A list of twelve requirements drives away competent profiles and attracts those who do not read. Split it clearly:

Required: PHP, experience with an MVC framework, able to read an existing database. Appreciated: Symfony, Docker, automated tests.

A candidate who misses one of twelve points often withdraws on their own, when they would have done fine. A short, honest list widens the pool instead of sorting it for you.

Tell the truth about remote work and hours

"Remote possible" means nothing. Be specific: how many days, from where, with what core hours. For roles tied to a foreign client, state the time difference in the advert rather than at the second interview.

What you hide in the advert is paid for in late withdrawals.

Announce the process

Three lines are enough: how many stages, which ones, and how fast you reply. A candidate who knows what to expect stays engaged; a candidate in the dark accepts the competing offer that answered sooner.

If your process includes a technical test, say so, and say how long it takes. An eight-hour unpaid exercise, discovered after the fact, loses exactly the candidates you wanted.

Reposting is not relaunching

A job that has been asleep for two months does not need reposting as-is: it needs fixing. Rework the title, add the range, cut half the requirements, and set a deadline. A dated, bounded job reads as a real job.

Posting a job on AsatekUP is free; it is then shown to the profiles whose stack matches.