|
This article provides suggestions for writing a good Craigslist Web\Internet help wanted ad
to draw the type of respones you want for your business.
Be Concise
List Key Web Development Skills
I've read several Craigslist ads which do not list the web design or development
skills required for the position. These ads usually say something like:
"I need a designer (or developer) please contact me.".
The second problem is that many ads go overboard and list many (dozens?)
of required web design or development skills.
The lack or overabundance of skill information in the ad causes these problems:
You will be flooded with dozens, perhaps hundreds,
more responses to your ad than you can handle.
Readers of your ad are unsure of whether to respond to your ad.
Web designers and web developers can not possibly (in my opinion) be proficient
in a long list of skills. Candidates who read such a long list of requirements
can believe they do not have the skills for your position and decide to not
respond to your ad.
The solution is to prioritize and list the key skills you need for your
web site projects.
Be Clear About Employment Structure
Some Craigslist ads fail to indicate the employment structure
of the developer. Can the developer work as an independent contractor
or do you want a full-time employee?
This lack of clarity wastes the developers and clients time with
unnecessary correspondence between the parties.
Specify clearly the employement structure:
- Work can be done as an independent contractor.
- Full-time employee
Be Clear About Work Location
Some Craigslist ads do not specify where the contractor
can work on project. This lack of information wastes time for both the
contractor and the client. I recently responded to a firm
in Pennsylvania who wanted an ASP.NET C# developer to work
on several web project. The project seemed to be a good fit with my skills,
so I responded to the firm's ad with my cover letter and work experience.
The web project leader replied asking me to come in for an interview. She
didn't know my offices are in Massachusetts. Once I informed the project
leader of my work location she declined to setup an interview with me.
Had I known the firm wanted only local developers I would have not
spent time responding to the firm's Craigslist ad.
I suggest you cleary specify where the developer can perform
work on your project:
- Developer can work remotely and telecommute.
- Developer must be local and must attend occasional onsite meetings.
- Developer must work onsite.
Understand Difference Between Designer or Developer
I've seen Craigslist ads with statements like:
- I want a web developer to design my web pages.
- I'm looking for a designer to create a database and write a script.
Web developers and web designers perform different functions.
Web Developer
A web developer designs database tables, writes stored procedures, designs and writes
software to store data into a database or pull information from a database. A web developer
may use ASP.NET, C#, VB, or PHP (the common web development languages) to create the
web application software. The developer may use SQL Server or MySQL for the database
technology.
Web Graphic Designer
A web graphic designer selects fonts, font sizes, colors, designs the layout
of the page, and designs images for display on web pages. A designer may
use Html, CSS, and Photoshop to perform these design tasks.
Some web developers may be good at design, and some web designers may be good at web development.
To ensure you receive responses from the correct candidates I suggest you
understand the difference between the two types of web contractors and
specify clearly in your ad which one you want.
List Email As Only Contact Info
|