The problem with most job postings
Read a typical hospitality job posting and it reads like a contract. "The successful candidate will be responsible for the preparation and service of food items in accordance with established protocols." Nobody applying for a chef de partie role talks like that. Nobody reading it on a phone at 11pm after a long shift feels inspired.
The best job postings sound like the venue they come from. They are warm, specific, and written for the person you want to hire — not for a filing cabinet.
Write for the candidate, not the file
Start with a one-line pitch. What is the role, and why would someone want it? "We are looking for a sous chef who wants to run a kitchen in a busy neighbourhood bistro." That tells the candidate three things: the role, the venue, and the ambition.
Then describe the day-to-day in plain English. What sections will they run? What does a typical service look like? What team are they joining? Candidates want to picture themselves in the role, not decode jargon.
Be honest about the hard parts
Every hospitality role has difficult moments. Late finishes. Busy weekends. A section that gets hammered on a Friday night. If you hide these, candidates find out on day one and walk out on day three. Name the challenges and frame them honestly. "Friday nights are intense — we do 200 covers and the section gets busy. You will have a strong brigade around you."
Honesty builds trust. Candidates who know what they are walking into stay longer.
Keep the requirements realistic
Long requirement lists scare off good candidates. A chef de partie does not need five years of experience in fine dining to be excellent. List the essentials — food safety certification, relevant section experience — and leave the rest as "preferred." You can train the right person; you cannot train someone who never applied because the list was too long.
Make it easy to apply
The single biggest barrier to hospitality applications is friction. If a candidate has to create an account, upload a CV, fill out a form, and wait for an email, most of them will not bother. Mobile-first, one-tap applications are the standard now. Candidates should be able to apply from their phone in under a minute.
For details on how to set up mobile applications in RecruitCommis, see the documentation.
A simple structure that works
Follow this structure for every posting:
- One-line pitch — the role and the attraction
- About the venue — two sentences, in your voice
- The role — what they will actually do, in plain English
- The challenges — named honestly
- What you need — the essentials only
- What we offer — without price figures; link to a role page or your venue profile
- How to apply — one step, on a phone
Common mistakes to avoid
Do not copy and paste from an old posting. Roles change, venues change, and a stale posting signals a stale workplace. Write each one fresh.
Do not list salary bands as a range so wide it is meaningless. If you are not sure what to pay, look at what similar venues are advertising or talk to your network. The pricing page covers what it costs to hire through RecruitCommis; for pay rates, research your local market.
Do not write in the third person. "The candidate will" is cold. "You will" is direct and human. The person reading it is a person, not a procurement officer.
The bottom line
A good job posting is an advert, not a contract. Write it the way you would describe the role to a friend. Be warm, be specific, be honest. The candidates who respond will be the ones who actually want the job — and those are the ones who stay.