Job ads are false songs about promises of work futures.
And as an applicant you know, that you have to sing the EXACT tones right to hit those vocals to get considered for the job.
If you work in HR or have been writing job ads, the words in the job ads have been carefully selected and edited to ensure the right terms, details and structure to comply with laws and company policies.
It is technical.
And need to be right.
And tight.
And fast.
On the other side of requirement is the rest of us.
We are all potential job applicants sooner or later.
And now you have read the words in the ad. Because you are seeking your next job gig.
Maybe you go like:
‘do I think I can really see myself there’
And then you might research Linkedin, Company Webpage, Glassdor etc.
Or maybe you go like:
‘It sounds unrealistic, they are asking for 3 roles in one. 10 year of experience, young team, AI savvy, leadership experience etc.’
Time and effort have been spent in making job ads SOUND right. Yet the song is missing.
As receivers, we don’t listen to the sound of words.
We react to the way the tone resonate with us through the underlying stories they tell.
Lise, A friend of mine was applying for a job
The job ad had words such as innovation, leadership, 8+ years of experience, People-first culture, Front-moving scale up, AI, and some adjectives on personal traits.
And so she wrote her application – first prompting ChatGPT with her CV and asking it to generate an application using as many words from the job ad as possible yet with a personal tone of voice.
She then added examples and argued how she would solve the job related tasks.
After submitting the documents in the system, waiting and getting the auto-generated replies, I asked her:
Based on the experience you have had with the recruitment process, how well does the job ad align to your perception of the company?
“The gap is from here to the moon. No, let’s say Mars.”
She didn’t get the job.
Maybe that was a good thing.
But what is this gap about?
When people or companies say they are innovative and have a people-first culture, we expect this a part of the hiring process too, i.e., how has the job ad been designed, narrated, crafted and the tone of voice in a people-first manner? What about waiting time, and mechanical autogenerated replies vs a human (or an AI trained as one).
No one EVER wants to be treated like a commodity or ressource.
But it often times feels like that.
Just as employers want a surprising creative CV or application with effort to show an employer who they are – applicants want the same from an employer.
Applicants – you and me – would like the same – especially if the company consider themselves an innovative people-first company and great place to work.
What is the gap from Lise’s experience telling us?
The gap is a witness that recruitment is a transactional approach to hiring and people are treated as ressources – a business commodity.
Really?
In 2025?
Yes.
3 reasons.
1. Efficiency & Process-Driven Thinking
Recruiters often deal with high volumes of applications and are incentivized to move quickly by their business stakeholders. Time and volume and money. Standardized assessments, keyword-based resume screening, and structured interviews make the hiring process scalable. And scalability is business.
2. Traditional KPIs & Performance Metrics
Many HR departments are measured on time-to-hire, cost-per-hire in recruitment. These focus on quantity over quality. Emotional engagement, brand storytelling, and candidate experience don’t always fit into existing HR analytics dashboards.
So you get what you measure.
3. Business Pressures & Leadership Expectations
HR teams often report to finance or operations executives, who prioritize efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness. ‘People aspects’ experience drivers and psychology might be seen as a “soft” approach rather than a business-critical function.
BUT
With these arguably reasonable business conditions, what can HR and recruiters do to craft job ads and recruitment journeys that plays songs resonating with our ears?
The secret lies in crafting experiences and underlying stories that resonate with us as humans.
And stop believing that ‘soft’ skills is not business.
Soft skill is the NEW business.
And investing in recruitment people experiences making us smile and tick as we feel people – has directly impact on business success. It is a matter of looking broader on longer term business KPI’s than short term recruitment kpi’s.
- 94% of candidates are more willing to apply for future opportunities with the same company if the experience resonates
- Organizations that prioritize candidate experience are 70% more likely to secure top-quality talent.
- Candidates who have a favorable experience during the hiring process are 38% more likely to accept a job offer.
- A negative candidate experience can deter potential applicants, with 72% of dissatisfied candidates sharing their experiences online or with personal networks, potentially damaging the company’s reputation.
- Candidates who have negative experiences are 185% less likely to refer other job seekers to the company.
Here are 4 very easy hacks you as HR can do and implement into your recruitment process TODAY
- Language. Kill businessy jargon and speak like a human. Jargon kills it for us and creates distance
- Add visual stories to the job ads and throughout the candidate journey – illustrating the story instead of text based bullets with no tone to it.
- make a reel / video telling about the job and what to expect and outline 4 questions from people who consider applying:
- Describe how you would solve a specific this task / case that you would do in this job?
- What can we do to help you work your best doing this?
- What is the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you go about it?
- Show us your interests, values and what you are mostly proud of
Show us who you are – employer, HR, manager and team. And make people feel why they should make an effort and apply.
Bridge the Gap and let your story shine through
The story is not solely in your words but is what the applicant will say to their friend after having engaged with your content.
It is the way you make people feel.
Think in experiences, happiness, stories instead of numbers.
Would you try this approach?