The Vacancy Is the Pitch: Writing a Careers Page That Tells the Truth

Most UK brands have a homepage that has been through three rounds of edits, a pricing page with carefully tested language, and a careers page that still says 'exciting opportunity' above a list of duties copied from a 2019 job description.

That is a strange split. Candidates are buyers. They are comparing you to other employers, reading between the lines, and deciding whether to spend an evening on an application form. Your careers page is the shop window. If it is vague, defensive or written by committee, the sharpest people will quietly walk on.

The candidate is a buyer with a very short return window

A job seeker does not read your careers page like a legal document. They skim it on a phone, often on a commute, usually while comparing three tabs. They want to know what the work actually is, what it pays, where it happens and whether the promises hold up.

If your copy dodges those questions, they do not assume the answers are fine. They assume the answers are bad. A missing salary says 'we will lowball you'. A vague hybrid policy says 'we will change it once you have signed'. A wall of company history says 'we would rather talk about us than about you'.

The fix is not to write a longer page. It is to write a more honest one.

Sell the reality, not the fantasy

Recruitment copy has a bad habit of describing a company nobody has ever worked at. Everyone is a rockstar. Every team is a family. Every office has a ping-pong table and a culture of innovation. None of it helps a candidate picture their Tuesday morning.

A sharper careers page does the opposite. It names the actual work, the actual team and the actual trade-offs. 'You will own the weekly newsletter, chase sign-off from three stakeholders and occasionally rewrite a landing page at short notice' is more persuasive than 'you will be part of a dynamic content function'. One is a job. The other is a mood board.

This matters even more for smaller UK brands. You cannot out-benefit a multinational, but you can out-explain them. A plain description of what the role involves, who it reports to and what success looks like in the first six months is a genuine advantage. It gives candidates something to say yes to.

Say the quiet parts out loud

Pay is the obvious one. If you can publish a salary band, publish it. If you genuinely cannot, give a range and explain the process. 'We are benchmarking this role and will discuss the band at first interview' is not perfect, but it is honest. Silence is worse.

The same applies to hybrid working. 'Flexible working available' has been stretched so far that it now means nothing. Say how many days people usually spend in the office. Name the core hours. Explain whether the pattern is fixed, team-led or negotiable. If there is a probation period, say so. If travel is part of the job, put a number on it.

Then go further. Holiday allowance, pension contribution, learning budget, parental leave, notice period, how progression actually works. You do not need to reproduce the whole staff handbook. You do need to answer the questions people ask in the first interview so they can decide whether to apply at all.

Job descriptions are landing pages, not legal documents

Most job ads open with the company. They should open with the work. A candidate already knows you are a company. What they do not know is whether the job is any good.

Start with the problem the role solves or the work it owns. Keep the duties specific and outcome-led. Separate the essential requirements from the nice-to-haves, and delete any requirement that exists only because it was in the last version. If a degree is not actually necessary, take it out. If you are willing to train someone, say so clearly.

And keep the closing call to action simple. Tell people what happens next, how long it takes and who they can contact about adjustments. A byzantine application portal is not a test of resilience. It is a reason to close the tab.

A rewrite checklist for the 'We're hiring' page

Use this before you publish the next vacancy.

• First line: Does it name the role and the real work, rather than the company origin story?
• Pay: Is the salary or range visible before the application?
• Working pattern: Are office days, core hours and hybrid expectations in plain English?
• Location: Is travel, relocation or site attendance described honestly?
• Progression: Are there real examples of what people have moved into, not just a promise of development?
• Filters: Does the copy say who will thrive in the role, and who probably will not?
• Process: Are the stages, likely timeline and reasonable adjustments explained?
• Voice: Does it sound like the same brand as your homepage, or like a HR template with the logo swapped?
• Call to action: Is the next step obvious, short and mobile-friendly?
• Housekeeping: Have you removed old vacancies and updated the page since the last hire?

The filter is the feature

Good recruitment copy does not just attract applications. It repels the wrong ones. That sounds harsh, but it is kind. Telling someone that the role involves a lot of solo spreadsheet work saves them a wasted interview and saves you a wasted afternoon.

A careers page that sells the reality of the job will always outperform one that sells a fantasy. It attracts people who want the actual work, sets expectations before day one and gives your brand a reputation for being straight with people. In a tight UK hiring market, that is not a nice-to-have. It is the pitch.

So treat your careers page like a sales page. Because it is one. The product is the role, the customer is the candidate and the copy has to tell the truth.