How to write a job post that gets good applicants

A good job post saves everyone time. The right person reads it and thinks "I can do that", and the wrong person sees quickly that it is not for them. Most weak posts fail by being vague, not by being short.

Lead with a specific title

"Paper plugin developer for a survival network" tells people what the work is. "Developer needed" tells them nothing, and gets skipped.

Show the pay

Every listing on Minebit shows its pay, and that is on purpose. People skip jobs that hide it. Choose hourly, fixed or yearly, and give a real number or range. A range is fine. "Negotiable" is not an answer.

What the description needs

• What you run: the type of server, roughly how many players, how long it has been going.
• What the work is, in terms of what players will see or what staff will do.
• The stack: server software, Minecraft version, languages, anything it connects to.
• How big it is and how long it runs: a one-off task, a project of several weeks, or ongoing work.
• How you pay, and when.
• How you work with people: Discord, a code repository, regular check-ins.

Be clear about the rules

• Set the AI policy if you have one. Say whether AI-assisted code is allowed or not.
• Tick "only vetted talent" if you want fewer applicants, each one reviewed by hand.
• Say if you need someone in a particular time zone.

Make applying easy

Ask for what you need to decide. A link to a similar project, and one or two sentences on how they would approach it, are enough. Long questionnaires cost you the people who are in demand.

After you post

• Reply to applicants, including the ones you turn down. It takes a minute and people remember.
• Invite matching talent from the job page if the applications are slow.
• Mark people as shortlisted or hired so they know where they stand.
• When the work is done, mark it complete and leave a review. It helps the next network, and the person.

If it is a small task

Not everything needs a full job post. For a small, fixed-price task, a bounty is lighter. To compare prices for a piece of work, ask a few people for quotes.