How to Write a Good Design Job Posting
My thoughts after a month of reading a lot of them (like, a lot).
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I’ve spent a good amount of time over the last month looking over industrial design job postings for the “Just the ID Jobs” section of this newsletter and related LinkedIn digest posts. I’ve also written a few job postings myself over the years.
Many design job postings are lazily written and make things unnecessarily hard for the applicant. Then employers wonder why they have a lack of good candidates.
So after reading through probably hundreds of them, here are five things that I think makes a good design job posting:
1. Use clear, industry standard titles
Nobody knows what to do with a job titled, “Industrial Designer/Accountant”. You’ll just end up with confused applicants and non-relevant candidates.
I know the people writing the postings may not always be the ones actually hiring, but collaborate internally and do some homework to understand what standard titles are.
This is probably the most important thing for a successful job posting because it relates directly to how well the post shows up in search, and how interested a qualified candidate will be.
2. Say what your company does
This seems so obvious, but so many job postings skip this. Am I just supposed to have already known about your great company? Even if the company is a household name, what does the specific team that is hiring do?
Just a one line description of what the company or team does and what kind of products it makes goes a long way in framing the rest of the job description to an applicant, and prevents unnecessary Googling.
3. Make it skim-able
People are reading tons and tons of these. Make your job postings concise and skim-able if you want it to get noticed.
Use short sentences.
Trim unnecessary jargon.
Make bulleted lists.
Use white space and formatting to make it easy on the eyes.
A bullet point that is also a paragraph is a sure sign you’ve gone too far.
4. List salary and benefits (even if you don’t have to)
This may be news to some, but the primary reason most people (even designers) work is not to fulfil some insatiable calling, but to make money and get healthcare and retirement benefits so they can live their lives.
So wouldn’t they really like to know about what kind of compensation is on offer when applying to a job?
Pay transparency in job postings is starting to become law in certain jurisdictions, like California and New York. But even if it’s not the law where you are, it might be worth doing for you as an employer.
A new study shows that openly advertising salary and benefits leads to significantly more interest from applicants AND better quality applicants.
If you aren’t drastically under-paying your employees or practicing pay discrimination, what do you have to hide?
5. Write like a real human
Why do most job postings read like they’re written by robots?
Maybe they are. Looking at you, ChatGPT 👀.
Skip the corporate jargon and the company puffery. Just write like a real human looking for another real human to join your team. Think about what a potential candidate might need or want to know and communicate it in a clear and concise way. Put some personality into it (but not too much, tone is hard to read via text).
And don’t call your company a family. It’s weird. People have their own families
Bonus: Words of encouragement
Look at this from one job posting I found:
“Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria. If you don’t have 100% of the skills listed, we strongly encourage you to apply if interested.”
Isn’t that nice?
The job market is a tough place in the best of times. Some words of encouragement will make candidates feel good about applying, and maybe even get a few qualified people who might self-select out for whatever reason to go for it.
Have you written a job posting before?
Or have you been on the receiving end of these job postings for awhile?
What are you noticing, or what tips would you add for potential employers?
Let me know in the comments or replies.
Have a great week!
Design Things of the Week
Each week I share a few design-related things I’ve encountered.
❤️ A love letter to the McMaster-Carr catalog:
Masterlist. I was recently told about this website by a friend. If you work in the design or engineering industries in the US, you’ve most likely developed an affinity for McMaster-Carr, a website where you can order almost anything to build anything and get it by the next day. Masterlist is a beautifully photographed catalog of a selection of McMaster products by designer Greg Wolos.
🔧 A plugin that will speed up your SolidWorks McMaster workflow:
McMaster-Carr SolidWorks Add-In. This week I had to design a big prototype out of a wide variety of McMaster components. Did you know they have a SolidWorks plugin? I didn’t. It made finding, inserting, and even ordering parts right inside SolidWorks easy and smooth.
🤖 An actually viable sketch > AI footwear workflow:
Nicholas Rapagnani’s post on LinkedIn. Most AI design I see on the internet is either fancy eye candy or random crap that doesn’t make any sense. This was one of the few AI workflows that I thought produced a coherent and actually manufacturable result.
🗨️ A quote to think about:
But the longer I made things—at General Magic, at Philips, at Apple—the more I realized that many things don’t need to be made.
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell
Reader Q&A
Last week I got a question from a reader via the feedback buttons below. I don’t collect email addresses through that form, so I have no idea who sent the question, but I’ll answer publicly here.
Maybe I’ll make this a new section of the newsletter?
Let me know if you have questions/would be interested in me answering them publicly.
Q: I’m amazed at how compact your design business setup is. Thanks for sharing! I wonder how do you approach reviewing physical prototypes with clients while working remotely? I always wonder if it’s possible to fully work remotely as an Industrial Designer (seems like it is in your case!) As I often find it challenging to be on the same page with colleagues / clients when people don’t physically interact with the objects. Do you encounter the same issue?
A: Currently all my clients are local. So while I work from home most of the time, I do travel to client offices from time to time to do prototyping, review designs, or just get some face time.
However, for two years during the pandemic, the design studio I was a partner at operated almost entirely remotely. We would send prototypes back and forth to our clients all over the country. So it is possible as long as you plan around it, though it is always better to get together and look at the same object right in front of you.
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Just the ID Jobs - 26x Full-Time, 3x Internships
“Just the Industrial Design Jobs” is a segment of this newsletter that lists only industrial design jobs that were posted within the last week to various job board websites. US based only for now for my sanity (sorry!).
Please let me know if you find this useful, and if it is I encourage you to share or forward it onto your industrial design friends.
hand2mind - Industrial Design Intern
Vernon Hills IL
Education
PMI - Industrial Design & Development Intern
Seattle WA
Durable goods
$25 an hour
Deckers Brands - Design Intern
Goleta CA
Footwear
$20 an hour
PUMA - INTERN- INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, COBRA GOLF
Carlsbad CA
Sports equipment
0 years experience minimum
Delta Faucet Company - Industrial Design Co Op
Indianapolis IN
Kitchen and bath products
0 years experience minimum
Allegion - Industrial Design Co-op
Indianapolis IN
Security products
0 years experience minimum
Jazwares, LLC - 3D Sculptor Designer - Pokémon
Culver City CA
Toys
$80,000 - $90,000 a year
3 years experience minimum
Apple - Apple Industrial Design Accepting Portfolios
Cupertino CA
Consumer electronics
San Rafael - Arts and Entertainment Tech Designer
Remote
Entertainment
$80,000 - $90,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
Nike - Concept Creator II, Footwear
Beaverton OR
Footwear
L&L Candle Co. - Consumer Product Designer
Brea CA
Home goods
$65,000 - $75,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
Schylling - Design Lead/Toy Designer
There is no city associated with the input "remote". Please provide more context or information. N/A
Toys
8 years experience minimum
Architectural Elements - Design Team Lead
Bellingham WA
Custom fabrication
$60,000 - $80,000 a year
5 years experience minimum
Poblocki Sign Company - Designer
Medway MA
Signage
$55,000 - $72,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
Poblocki Sign Company - Designer
Orlando FL
Signage
$55,000 - $72,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
WestRock - Designer
Yakima WA
Packaging
3-5 years experience minimum
Tucker & Marks - Furniture Designer
San Francisco CA
Furniture
5 years experience minimum
General Motors - Global Branded CMF Design Manager
Warren MI
Transportation
5 years experience minimum
Super Color Digital, LLC - Industrial Designer
Irvine CA
Retail displays
$80,000 - $90,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
Moen - Industrial Designer
North Olmsted OH
Kitchen and bath products
3 years experience minimum
Cella - INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
Wappingers Falls NY
Lighting
$110,000 - $125,000 a year
7-15 years experience minimum
Peak Season - Industrial Designer
Birmingham AL
Furniture
$45,000 - $50,000 a year
2 years experience minimum
Toughbuilt - Industrial Designer
Irvine CA
Tools
$80,000 - $150,000 a year
5 years experience minimum
G-Form LLC - Industrial Designer -Athletic Equipment & Apparel
Providence RI
Sports equipment
1-3 years experience minimum
Blue Origin - Mockup Fabrication Manager
Seattle WA
Aerospace
$127,170 - $186,516 a year
5 years experience minimum
Ecolab - Senior / Principal Industrial Designer
Eagan MN
Water management
5 years experience minimum
Toughbuilt - Senior Industrial Designer
Irvine CA
Tools
$125,000 - $250,000 a year
5 years experience minimum
Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation - Staff Industrial Designer
Brookfield WI
Tools
3-5 years experience minimum
Le Sherwood USA - Tech Designer
Remote
Custom fabrication
$80,000 - $90,000 a year
1 years experience minimum