- The study looked at 25,000 recent job descriptions from 10 technology giants
- They each had a unique set of three phrases which were commonly used
- Women were attracted to phrases including the words ‘family’ and ‘relationships’
- Male candidates were drawn to words like ‘all star’, ‘tackle’ and ‘bull by the horns’
The unique language used by tech giants to lure recruits has been laid bare in an extensive study of job listings from Silicon Valley.
The study by Textio examined 25,000 job listings from some of the country’s biggest tech names over the last year.
In addition to revealing the top three phrases used in each, it showed which of those were most successful in attracting male applicants and which of them drew in more female candidates.
At Amazon, the top three phrases were ‘wickedly’, ‘fast-paced environment’ and ‘maniacal’. Between scandal-hit Facebook’s ‘our family’ and ‘storytelling’ was ‘ruthlessly’.
Apple’s were more gentle. Its top three were ‘comfortably’, ‘maintaining control’ and ’empathetic’.
Words which denoted aggression or action such as ‘tackle’ (one of Google’s top three), ‘insatiably’ (a Microsoft favorite) and ‘whatever it takes’ (Uber) attracted more male applicants.
Softer phrases like ‘lasting relationships’ (Slack), passion for learning (Twitter), and ‘building alliances’ (Sales Force) attracted more women.
Interestingly, Twitter, Slack and Apple are all Textio customers and use its services to help craft job ads. The others do not.
See the full list of top three phrases below
The study surveyed 25,000 different recent job listings in the tech industry from major companies
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