Nowadays, it takes people about six months on average to find a job, and applicants seeking high-paying white-collar roles, which saw a post-pandemic boom and subsequent contraction, often find the hunt particularly difficult, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Despite the fact that most job applicants who’ve submitted countless resumes and undergone multi-round interviews are eager to land a position and quit the search, many of them aren’t willing to settle for an opportunity that doesn’t seem like the right fit.
Of course, a job post is often a candidate’s first introduction to their next potential role, and as it turns out, the language hiring managers choose to include in it dissuades some people from applying altogether.
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A new study from Adobe Acrobat explores the job listing “red flag” phrases that deter applicants — and how the biggest turnoffs vary across generations.
According to the report, which compiled responses from 1,060 individuals, including 807 job-seekers and 253 hiring decision-makers, two unpopular phrases tied for first place, with 33% admitting that they’d make them reconsider a role: “customer-obsessed” and “wear many hats.”
“Rockstar” (32%), “high sense of urgency” (29%) and “fast-paced environment” (25%) rounded out the rest of the top five phrases that turn off job-seekers, per the data.
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The survey revealed the rest of the list as follows:
6. “High energy” (24%)
7. “Works well with ambiguity” (21%)
8. “Family” (20%)
9. “Entrepreneurial spirit” (18%)
10. “No task too small” (16%)
“Wearing many hats” is most likely to alarm Gen Z and Millennial respondents (38%), while “rockstar” particularly concerns Gen X and Baby Boomer respondents (37%).
Millennial and Gen Z applicants also have a different perspective on job listings that highlight a “fast-paced environment,” per the research: Millennials are 29% more likely than Gen Z to consider those words a dealbreaker.
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Although many hiring managers continue to lean on some of the most disliked phrases (one in seven still include “customer-obsessed”), the report notes that “swapping out clichés for straightforward descriptions not only sets better expectations but also lets a listing stand out for the right reasons.”