While I agree that the job listings I see are lackluster and not enticing at all, it's partly from lack of information. Saying your work environment is great is one thing, but having me believe that is another. I did see one recently that made me believe it, but that wasn't a startup.

Another piece of missing info is always salary. I'm supposed to put in some correspondence, a custom resume and cover letter, 1-3 interviews and THEN you'll tell me how much you're paying? Sorry, not worth my time because you very likely aren't paying enough to dislodge me from my current comfortable, safe job.

And another one: Job description. Telling me I need to know X framework isn't enough. What do you expect me to be doing with it? If I'm just slicing PSDs and formatting HTML for use with that framework, forget it. If I'm getting down and dirty and really testing the edges of the framework, I'm a lot more interested.

You make a good point about salary not being listed in ads. Here's a heuristic. When it's not listed, that means "Substantially below market rate, but we'll claim otherwise." Some might then say, "But none of the ads have salaries, isn't it impossible for everyone to be below market rate?" The answer is no. Those who pay at and above market rate don't have problems hiring and never have to resort to advertising positions in classifieds. This explains why all these unfilled positions that are advertised month after month are all at below market rates.

You know who should read this post.... Recruiters

When I was looking for a gig last year, a recruiter thought that if he re wrote my resume, that I would have a better chance of getting the job. I doubt he realized that in this industry, the interviewee is interviewing the company as well.