My company is looking for a new staff member to join our tech support team, so I’ve been helping with various tasks like writing the job description and reviewing resumes. Overall, the pool of applicants has been extremely strong, which likely speaks to the attractiveness of the position along with the large number of qualified people who lost their jobs during the recent recession and are now looking for work.

However, this experience has also made me realize that most of the companies hiring today are leaving out some key information from their job postings. In particular, any sensible candidate will want to know:

– Who your company is and what you do. At a minimum, this means providing your company name and a link to your website.

– The actual salary range for the position. This means real numbers, not some bogus statement like “Salary dependent on experience.”

– What the company culture is like. This can be a direct statement mentioning things like your on-site game room and catered lunches, or something more subtle like the way you use humor in the job posting itself.

Remember, the process of hiring a new employee means that you’re asking people to tell you a whole lot of personal information about themselves. If you want to attract the best candidates, it makes sense to share the relevant details about the company and the position right in the job posting. By starting with an atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation, you’re a lot more likely to get the kind of candidates you want. This reduces the time and effort required to find the right person, and might even increase the chance that they’ll stay with you in the long run.