How to Write a Sales Job Ad That Doesn’t Sound Like Everyone Else’s

I don’t know who started it, but somewhere along the line every sales job ad in the UK decided to sound exactly the same.

“Fast-paced environment.”
“Competitive salary.”
“Uncapped commission.”
“Great opportunity.”

You could swap the company name out and no one would notice. It’s like reading the back of a cereal box. Looks nice, tells you nothing.

And then people wonder why they get average candidates.

Here’s the truth. Good salespeople are not sitting there getting excited about vague promises. They’ve seen it all before. They know exactly what’s being dressed up and what isn’t.

So when your ad says “uncapped commission”, what they hear is “we’re not telling you what you’ll actually earn.”

When you say “fast-paced environment”, what they hear is “it’s probably a bit chaotic but we’re not going to admit that.”

It’s like online dating. If every profile says “I love travelling and having fun,” you’ve learned absolutely nothing about the person. Same thing here.

The belief most businesses have is that being fully honest will scare people off. And yeah… it will. That’s kind of the point.

You should want the wrong people to read your ad and think “that’s not for me.” That’s doing you a favour.

Because when you’re vague, you don’t filter anyone. You just create more work for yourself. More CVs, more interviews, more time wasted talking to people who were never right in the first place.

The good candidates? They scroll straight past because they can’t be bothered playing guessing games.

If you actually want better applicants, you’ve got to say what the job really is.

Tell them what they’ll be expected to do. Properly. Not a polished version. If it’s 60 calls a day, say it’s 60 calls a day. If there’s a ramp period, explain it. If the OTE is based on real team performance, show that.

The funny thing is, when you do that, the quality of applicants changes almost overnight. You get fewer people, but they’re far more relevant.

Because you’re not trying to attract everyone anymore. You’re trying to attract the right ones.

And that’s the shift most companies haven’t made yet.