How to write the perfect want ad - Simon Sinek

How to write the perfect want ad - Simon Sinek

What does it take to put together the perfect team?
It takes the perfect want ad, but how do you write the perfect want ad? Most of us take out ad in the newspaper and Craigslist and we say what we're looking for, an account executive or personal assistant, something like that and we get inundated with responses but that doesn't guarantee that the people that we're going to hire are great fits, because what makes a great team are people who believe what you believe.

If somebody believes what you believe, they're going to work for you with blood and sweat and tears. If they don't believe what you believe they work for your money. The example I love to use is of Shackleton. Shackleton was a turn-of-the-century English explorer and what makes him famous is that he and his team were stranded in the Antarctic Ice for 22 months, but what makes Shackleton expedition famous is that no one died, no one died after 22 months being stranded on the ice.

This was not lucky, Shackleton hired the perfect team and just like us he took out an ad in the newspaper, he took out an ad in the London Times. Now, it didn't say what he needed, it didn't say men needed for expedition must have five years experience and know how to hoist the mainsail. That's not what he said and think about how we write want ad account executive needed minimum five years experience must have a working knowledge of Microsoft Office and we get inundated with responses. What Shackleton's ad said was something different, he was brutally honest about what the conditions were like to work aboard. His ship and on this expedition and his ad in the London Times went like this man needed for the hazardous journey, long hours bitter cold, dark nights, survival doubtful if success.

Honor guaranteed the only people who were applied for the job were people who loved insurmountable odds, the only people who apply for the job were people who read that ad and went cool, and that's why Shackleton and his crew survived on the ice for 22 months. He hired people who were great fits.


Now when we take out ads or when we're interviewing people, we sometimes butter up what the job is going to be like. We're not brutally honest if your office is chaotic tell people that it's that, it's chaotic if you're in an office environment is one where everybody works late. Say that in your ads, say that in your interview, because if you don't you're going to hire people who fall in love with the job that you're selling, but not the job that they get be brutally honest.

What it's like to work for you and what you believe and you'll find it amazing. The kinds of people you can recruit for your team, I did this recently when I hired somebody to join my team and if you look below you can see the exact want ad that I use to find somebody on Craigslist. I wasn't inundated with responses because I said exactly what I believed and I was brutally honest about what it was like to work for me. The amazing thing was I found the perfect person in just four days, somebody who believes what I believe.

So go ahead uses the template and see how well you do and don't forget to find somebody who believes what you believe not just who does what you need them to do.

Read the actual want ad here: How to write the perfect want ad - Simon Sinek