How to Write a Creative Job That Actually Attracts Talent
6 min readCover job title, responsibilities, salary, essential skills, desirable skills, team structure, reporting line, training, progression, application process, and what success looks like.
The problem
Many creative job adverts are vague, generic, and uninformative. They list requirements without context, omit salary, and say nothing about what success in the role looks like. This attracts the wrong candidates and discourages the right ones.
What good looks like
A well-written creative job advert tells the candidate what the role is, what they will do, who they will work with, how they will grow, and what success looks like. It is specific, honest, and written for the person reading it, not for an internal HR template.
The Lab framework
Include these elements in every creative job advert:
- Job title: Clear, searchable, and accurately senior
- Responsibilities: What they will actually do day to day
- Salary: Transparent, always
- Essential skills: Short, focused, realistic
- Desirable skills: Clearly separated from essential
- Team structure: Who they will work with
- Reporting line: Who they report to
- Training: What support they will receive
- Progression: How the role can develop
- Application process: What to submit and what to expect
- What success looks like: What a great first year in the role involves
Example
Bad: "Seeking a creative individual to join our dynamic team. Must be passionate and hardworking. Salary competitive."
Better: "Junior Designer reporting to the Senior Designer, working across brand and campaign projects. Salary £26,000 to £28,000. Essential: strong portfolio, Adobe Creative Suite. Desirable: motion or 3D skills. Training in our brand guidelines and workflow. Progression to Midweight Designer within 18 to 24 months. Apply with portfolio and CV. Success in the first year means owning smaller briefs independently and contributing to larger campaigns."
Employer checklist
- Is the job title clear and accurately senior?
- Is the salary stated, not described as competitive?
- Are essential and desirable skills clearly separated?
- Does the advert describe the team and reporting line?
- Does it explain what training and progression look like?
- Does it tell candidates what success in the role looks like?
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