Mike McKay
October 13, 2026
Any job posting you put out in public should be treated as an Ad.
Most trades companies write them like they’re copying an old ad from a newspaper in the days when there were more applicants than jobs. “General Labor. Must be reliable. Pay DOE.”
Then they wonder why the only people applying are the guy who’s quit three shops this year and somebody’s nephew who “might be interested.”
Look, your posting is the first time a good candidate has heard about you. If you sound like every other ad, you disappear into the pile. In today’s labor market, disappearing into the pile is death. You end up reposting the same job every six weeks. Hire. Miss. Repost. Repeat. It’s a treadmill to nowhere because you commoditized yourself.
You need to work as hard at creating your job postings as you do any other advertising. And since employees do all the work in your company, it’s probably even more important.
Here’s what separates good ads from bad.
Put some effort into the title.
“Laborer” tells a candidate nothing. Laborer doing what? Digging a trench? Hauling drywall up three flights? Holding a stop sign for nine hours?
“Skilled Construction Laborer, Concrete Experience” tells them a lot. The concrete guy might read. The guy who’s never held a float keeps scrolling. Now your ad is doing your screening for free.
Sell the job.
Most owners and HR people won’t do this.
You’ve got a few paragraphs to convince someone to leave the job they have. Those paragraphs have to be good.
Describe the work. Building walls? Setting concrete forms? Running service calls in a van with 200,000 miles on it? Be honest. They’ll find out on day one anyway.
Spell out what they need. Licenses. Certifications. Years in the trade. A CDL. Their own tools. If it’s a dealbreaker, it goes in the ad. Not the interview.
Then tell them why they would like working for you. “Family atmosphere” doesn’t count. Every company says that. And everyone knows plenty of dysfunctional families. They just don’t want to be part of them.
Describe what you do to develop them. Do you pay for certifications? Is there a path from laborer to foreman? Has the crew been together for a long time? Is everybody home for dinner? The more specific you are, the easier it is for a candidate to consider what’s different about you and why they would want to join you.
Put Your Pay In the Ad
It’s 2026. “Competitive pay” is the Kohl’s Cash of job ads. Everybody’s seen it a thousand times, and nobody believes it’s worth what you say it is. Candidates assume a missing wage means a low wage. Usually, they’re right.
Post your range, then describe the benefits. If you offer health insurance, retirement match, paid time off, whatever you’ve got, list it. If you’re proud of your offer, show it off. If you’re not proud of it, that’s a different problem. (And a different blog.)
Call to Action
End the ad by telling them exactly what to do. Call this number. Email this address. Apply here. Pick one and make it painless.
The best tradesperson in the county is not finishing a 40-minute online application that asks for their high school GPA. They already have a job. They’ll go apply at the shop that just said “call Dave.”
How to screw this up
Bad postings are mostly the good ones in reverse.
The mystery title “General Labor” attracts everybody and nobody. You get a pile of resumes and no one you’d actually hand a set of keys to.
Some ads read like the employee handbook. Twelve paragraphs on the safety policy, the dress code, the drug testing procedure, the PTO accrual schedule. Save it for orientation. A job ad has one job: get the right person to raise their hand. Not to answer every question they’ll ever have.
Leaving out the pay. Covered it above. Covering it again because it’s still the most common mistake I see. Serious candidates treat their time like it’s worth something. A missing wage tells them you don’t.
A company with no personality. If a candidate can’t picture what it’s like to work for you, they won’t apply. Read your ad and ask yourself one question: could any other contractor in Wisconsin slap their logo on this and post it? If the answer’s yes, that’s a problem.
Bonus: Three steps to write an ad that works
Step 1: Describe the results of the job. Not from the first time you advertised 10 years ago. Today. Ask the people who are doing the work if you don’t know.
Step 2: Know who you’re talking to
A first-year apprentice and a 20-year master electrician want completely different things. The apprentice wants training and an opportunity to grow. A master wants the pay, respect, and nobody hovering over his/her shoulder. Write for one of them. Not both.
Step 3: Use the words candidates search
Nobody types “Field Operations Associate II” into Indeed. They type “construction jobs near me” or “electrician openings.” Use those words in your title and description so you show up when they look.
The Bottom Line
Your job posting is marketing. Treat it like marketing and you’ll attract people who want to work for you. Treat it like paperwork and you’ll get applicants who treat your job like paperwork too.
Want to see one that worked? We’ve got a real job posting that pulled in 89 applicants. Email chloemckay@actioncoach.com and we’ll send you the template.
Ready to fix your hiring for good? Send us a message.
Because running the same tired ad and expecting a better crew to show up? That’s just smoking hopium.