The Scariest Job Posting of 2020
Did you have a favorite Halloween costume as a kid? I did. I bought a witch costume once when I was eight and recycled that thing at least 100 times.
Most of you probably have cooler stories about how your parents made a pop culture costume that you wore for four years in a row, but my mom was not crafty or creative. The woman was a military accountant. I was lucky she let me buy a costume at all.
Honestly, I was not too fond of Halloween. I didn’t have friends to go trick-or-treating with because I was new to the area. I didn’t know the neighborhoods or what houses had the best candy.
The worst part for an introverted kid? Knocking on a stranger’s door and asking them for something I could buy at a store. When I made that realization, that was the end of trick-or-treating for good. I bought my candy.
That became my own Halloween tradition. I would buy a bag of candy I liked, and my mom would buy candy neither of us enjoyed. I would sit on the porch to give out candy and do my homework while eating my sweets. I enjoyed that tradition a lot more than stranger danger and shouting on doorsteps.
Scariest Job Posting: Secret Shopper Edition
We have our own Halloween tradition here at Three Ears Media. Every year we share the scariest job postings we’ve seen all year. Here’s the 2019 edition, in case you missed it.
There’s no shortage of them, that’s for sure. Every week I am sent a lousy job posting at least twice.
While I’m thankful for the material, we both know I don’t have to look hard to find an ineffective job posting. It’s a running joke on my team that you can search for any word and find a job posting that doesn’t meet expectations.
I mean any word. Tree. Elephant. Honey.
So this year, we’re going to switch up our tradition. Instead of posting scary jobs, I want to test my theory: can I search for any word and find a bad job posting?
To test this hypothesis, I only used words that can also be kid costumes or Halloween decorations. Can I find a bad job posting by searching “pumpkin” or “skeleton” on a job board?
Watch and find out.
Oh, and make sure to get a piece (bag, it is 2020) of your favorite candy to snack on while you watch. (My favorite? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or peanut M&M’s. Fact: if you see me at a conference, I very likely have a bag of M&M’s with me, and I will share if/when Rona is not an issue. )
Kat Kibben View All →
Kat Kibben [they/them] is a keynote speaker, writing expert, and LGBTQIA+ advocate who teaches hiring teams how to write inclusive job postings that will get the right person to apply faster.
Before founding Three Ears Media, Katrina was a CMO, Technical Copywriter, and Managing Editor for leading companies like Monster, Care.com, and Randstad Worldwide. With 15+ years of recruitment marketing and training experience, Katrina knows how to turn talented recruiting teams into talented writers who write for people, not about work.
Today, Katrina is frequently featured as an HR and recruiting expert in publications like The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Forbes. They’ve been named to numerous lists, including LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Job Search & Careers. When not speaking, writing, or training, you’ll find Katrina traveling the country in their van or spending some much needed downtime with the dogs that inspired the name Three Ears Media.