Template
Hiring · Template
Transparent Job Advert Template
A template with real, curated examples we love from other companies' job adverts. Open, transparent, and great at helping candidates to opt out as well.
Outline
We studied 1000+ job ads looking for the perfect transparent one, and never found a single perfect example. What we did find were companies who nail specific sections. This template curates those best bits into one place for People and Talent leaders to use as inspiration. Take it and make it your own.
Inspired by companies like…
Hat tip to teams who do sections of transparent hiring particularly well, including Sourcegraph, Cal.com, Buffer, GitLab and PostHog.
Transparency components
In no particular order.
Company mission and vision
Transparent job ads clearly state the company's mission and vision, giving applicants an idea of the larger goal they would be contributing to.
Healthcare systems are struggling; our solution is communication.
We have a bold vision: everyone involved in a patient's care, including the patient, should be able to communicate easily with each other. And we believe every NHS staff member should be using our software to make that happen. We want to make healthcare genuinely better.
We are solving one of the biggest challenges of our generation, and to do this, we need the best talent possible to help us raise the bar. This is where you come in.
Our products are used daily (and you will have most certainly received a message from us) by over 98% of GP practices and half of NHS hospitals, impacting millions of lives. As a People Partner, your role will be mission critical and you will be central to shaping the core communication infrastructure of the NHS.
Ask yourself
- Will people understand what we do?
- Will people understand why we exist?
- Will people understand the problem we're solving?
Current status and future goals
Transparent job adverts share information on things like current headcount, funding and customer base, as well as current objectives and goals.
We're proof that a strong, engaged culture doesn't require an office. Since January 2020, Oyster has:
- Built a distributed team of 400+ across 60+ countries
- Featured in Forbes as #9 in FlexJobs Top 30 Companies for remote jobs
- Formed a diverse leadership team and a workforce that's 60% female
- Earned top employee engagement scores
- Raised $286 million; valued at $1.2 billion
- Achieved B Corp status in 2023
Ask yourself
- Will people know our headcount and global setup?
- Will people learn about how we're funded?
- Will people get a sense of what we've achieved, and what we want to achieve next?
Working hours and location
Transparent job adverts specify exactly what kind of location-based working they practice (remote, hybrid, or on-site) with extreme clarity, and outline the time zones, core hours and expectations applicants need to overlap with. Rather than just '3 days in-office', specify which days if they are fixed. That is the level of clarity candidates deserve.
Whereabouts: We are full-remote, global and hours agnostic. Please be aware that many of our team are based in Europe. This means you will generally need to have at least 3 hours of work crossover with CET and GMT.
Ask yourself
- Will candidates know exactly what locations we do and don't hire in?
- Is there absolute clarity on when they will and will not be expected in an office (day specific)?
- Is there complete clarity on working hours?
Role importance, responsibilities and impact
Transparent job adverts cover concise responsibilities, but they also explain why the role matters to the business and what impact it will have. In other words: what can't we achieve without this person in place? They also balance that by clarifying what candidates will not be doing day to day.
What you will be doing
- Run full-cycle recruitment for roles across several of our GTM and engineering small teams
- Deliver an exceptional candidate experience by closing the feedback loop promptly and ensuring a seamless hiring process
- Manage expectations for internal hiring teams and exec members to maintain hiring standards and velocity
- Craft creative outbound as a niche strength
What you won't be doing
- Working on other people-y things. This is not a role for someone who wants to move sideways into people ops.
Ask yourself
- Do your job responsibilities go beyond basic requirements?
- Do you offer balance and help people understand what they won't be doing too?
- Is it clear exactly what impact this role will have on the org?
Timeline for role expectations
Transparent job adverts provide a timeline (for example one month, three months, six months, and one year) detailing what candidates are expected to achieve, and what success looks like at these milestones. This sets clear expectations and gives a sense of progression.
Here's what you can expect in your first year:
Within one month, you will…
- Begin 1:1s with your manager, understand your 30-60-90 plan, shadow current team members, review your quota, and dive into your territory.
- Build a territory plan targeting net-new logo accounts with a strong emphasis on outbound engagement and expanding existing customer relationships.
- Meet key partners across Customer Engineering, Technical Success, Product, Legal, and Engineering teams.
Within three months, you will…
- Understand the unique capabilities of Core Search products and develop strategies that align their value with prospects' engineering and business objectives.
- Hone storytelling skills, articulating use cases, sharing customer success stories, and conveying outcomes that matter to technical and executive audiences.
- Identify champions, influencers, and decision makers, and execute a disciplined, repeatable sales process.
Within six months, you will…
- Own the full sales cycle, consistently meeting and exceeding pipeline and revenue objectives.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to close technically complex and strategically significant enterprise deals.
- Deliver actionable customer feedback across teams so product stays aligned with customer needs.
Within one year, you will…
- Be recognized as a top-performing Account Executive, consistently exceeding goals.
- Mentor and support new Account Executives to elevate the entire team.
Ask yourself
- Is it clear what 'good' looks like after the first 30/60/90 days?
- Are there clear, tangible success metrics mentioned?
- Does this give a realistic account of performance in the team now?
About you
Transparent job adverts do not just outline skills, qualifications and experience. They provide balance by also outlining why you will not like this role, or why you should not apply.
This role is a great fit if you…
- Have 5-6 years of experience in People Operations or a closely related role at a fast-growing startup.
- Have worked in a global or multi-entity environment, and are comfortable operating across the US and Europe.
- Are systems-minded, and enjoy consolidating tools, automating workflows, and improving how things run.
- Have strong ownership and are comfortable operating without a playbook, including rolling up your sleeves when needed.
- Care deeply about culture and performance, and want to make values like urgency and accountability real and measurable.
This role won't be the right fit if you…
- Are looking to manage or build a People team in the near term. This is a senior individual contributor role.
- Want a narrow or purely administrative HR role, rather than broad ownership across People systems, programs, and culture.
- Prefer highly structured environments where processes and answers are already defined.
- Are uncomfortable switching between hands-on execution and higher-level thinking in the same week.
- Aren't excited about working in the office multiple days per week and collaborating closely in person.
Ask yourself
- Are we finding a balance between 'sell' and 'repel'?
- Have we given clear reasons for why we might not be a fit for this candidate?
- Are we giving people enough information to help them opt out of applying?
Compensation
Transparent job ads are open about the salary range, compensation and additional benefits. The best ones link to public handbooks where finer detail can be accessed.
Kit has standardized salaries based on position, no matter where you live. Level is determined based on experience and our interview process.
For more on their approach to compensation, see public posts from CEO Nathan Barry on LinkedIn.
- Level 3: Base Salary $126K · $50K Equity · Profit sharing
Ask yourself
- Have we included a salary or salary range with some indication of level and how it's calculated?
- Have we shared details on other key financial incentives like bonus, commission and equity?
- Have we given enough information on our broader benefits package?
Interview process
Transparent job ads outline the entire interview process, setting expectations for who candidates will meet, what activities look like, and how long it is likely to take.
Below is the interview process you can expect for this role. It may look like a lot of steps, but they move quickly and the steps are designed to help you decide if they are the right fit for you. Interviewing is a two-way street.
They expect the interview process to take about 4 hours in total.
Introduction stage
- [30 min] Recruiter screen
- [45 min] Hiring manager screen / resume deep dive with Revenue Leadership
Team interview stage
- [45 min] Peer interview with a CSM and Solutions Engineer
- [45 min] Sales presentation with Revenue Leadership and an Account Executive
Final interview stage
- [30 min] Values interview
- References and background check
Ask yourself
- Have you included an interview process on your job ad?
- Have you been clear about separate stages and their formats?
- Have you given information about who candidates will meet, and how long those interviews will be?
Links to additional resources, perks and benefits
Transparent job ads include links to finer detail for candidates (for example a careers page or open employee handbook), inviting people to opt in or out early.
Check out Send's public handbook for more information about their product, recruitment process, team, benefits, and much more.
Ask yourself
- Have we used every opportunity we can to link out to other information for candidates?
- Have we taken the chance to make public any additional information we could (for example in a handbook)?
- Will candidates have everything they'll need to make an informed decision about applying?
Additional trust-building elements
Like a landing page
Transparent job ads include a tl;dr so people can self-select in or out within about 10 seconds.
Topic What they offer and expect Whereabouts / Visas Applications from candidates located with long-term working rights in the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain or Latvia. Flexibility Office hubs in the UK and Latvia, plus no-office hubs in Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Choice-first work from day one. Seniority Prioritising IC4 level in their career framework, also open to IC3 / Senior Product Manager profiles. Salary Benchmark around £90-110,000 + equity at IC4 for someone based in the UK, with local benchmarks elsewhere. Interviews 3 stages totalling around 3 hours over 2-3 weeks. Reporting to VP Product More info FAQ, Careers at Juro, Juro handbook, or talent@juro.com.
Ask yourself
- What's the most important information that candidates might want to see before they dive in?
- Can we summarise the key bits for them: salary, location, and so on?
Show, don't just tell
Founder Looms, meeting recordings, and live dashboards help people see your true culture. Examples we've seen include Ashby's CPO embedding Loom videos on ads, Candor showing culture with authentic team readmes, and Kit linking to founder posts on social media.
Embed real artefacts: short founder or hiring-manager videos, team readmes, dashboards, or public posts that show how you actually work, not just what you claim.
Ask yourself
- What can candidates see or watch that proves how we work?
- Are we relying only on polished copy when a real artefact would land harder?
Clear communication and inclusive language
Transparent job ads are well written and free from jargon. They use gender-neutral and inclusive language, and you will not find a "rockstar" or a "ninja" anywhere. Equality statements should feel human and unique, not cut-and-paste.
We value individuality!
At Unbounce, we want every employee to be excited to bring their full, authentic self to work. When you bring your unique experiences, background, knowledge, perspective, and self-expression while embracing the same from others, we learn from each other. We innovate and co-create an environment where team members can do the best work of their careers.
We're dedicated to ensuring each team member feels a sense of belonging, feels safe, cared for, respected and valued for who they are, and trusts that their unique voice is heard. We're committed to equitable employee experience, opportunity, pay and support for every employee regardless of gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, family or marital status, religion, socio-economic status, veteran status, national origin, age, sexual orientation, education, disability, or any other characteristic that makes you unique.
Ask yourself
- Is our ad free from jargon and acronyms others might not understand?
- Have we used inclusive language?
- Have we avoided lazy, cookie-cutter statements and made this our own?
How we use AI
Transparent job ads meet the topic of AI head on, being upfront with candidates about how the company uses AI in the hiring process.
Our use of AI in hiring
We're committed to keeping hiring personal. Every application is reviewed by a real person on our team, and we don't use AI to screen or filter candidates out.
We do use AI to help with assessing candidates and summarizing interview feedback. These tools support our team in working more efficiently and reducing bias. All final hiring decisions are made by people who bring their judgment and experience to determine who joins our team.
Ask yourself
- Have we mapped out how we use AI in our hiring process?
- Have we been open about that with candidates?
Reasonable adjustments
Transparent job ads don't just tell people to get in touch if they need adjustments. They go one step further by being explicit about what those adjustments might look like, so people who might not recognise that they need them can still ask.
I need reasonable adjustments, what should I do?
We want to ensure that you get the opportunity to shine at your interview. You do not need to tell us why you need an adjustment, just what you need so we can accommodate you. Examples could include more time for a task, captions on during a video interview, or scheduling at a particular time of day because you are fasting, need to pray, take medication, need to do the school run, or eat at a certain time. This list is not exhaustive, so please get in touch to discuss any adjustments you may need.
Ask yourself
- Have we done more than simply suggest candidates notify us of needs for adjustments?
- Do we have examples of what others have asked for previously?
- Have we shared these with candidates upfront?
More open resources
Other free templates and diagnostics from Open Org.
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Transparent Job Advert Template by Open Org. Free to use and adapt for your organisation.