Let’s Roast.
Job postings don’t just describe roles, they leak the company’s operating system. This week, Jen and Paul roast a “basic” Marketing Coordinator job ad that quietly reveals a life of approvals, samples, and surprise requests from everyone with a title.
If you’re applying, you’ll learn what you’re really walking into. If you’re hiring, you’ll see how “helpful details” can accidentally broadcast chaos… or competence.
Follow along with the full job ad here :
The Bigger Picture
How do you design a job posting that sets accurate expectations without turning the role into a catch-all support funnel? The posting is doing a lot right operationally, yet it also shows how easy it is to omit the signals that attract the right people : reporting structure, purpose, and culture.
At a Glance: The Job Profile
Job Title: Marketing Coordinator
Report-to Title: Unknown
Company Size: Unknown
Industry: Consumer Packaging
What do they do?: Packaging for consumer goods (CPG, foodservice).
Head Office Location: Aurora, ON, Canada
Job Location: Aurora, ON, Canada
Geographical Operating Area: Canada, United States
Job Type: Full Time, Permanent
For the Job Seekers
Did you come across a job ad like this? These questions might help you shed some light on what working there is really like:
“Who do I report to, and what does success look like in the first 30/60/90 days?”
“When you say fast-paced and shifting priorities, what’s a real example from last week?”
“How are approvals handled—who owns sign-off, and what happens when people don’t respond?”
“How much of my week is samples/logistics vs actual marketing work?”
“What tools do you actually use for decks, design, and asset management—and can they evolve?”
“What does growth look like from this role (next title, timeline, pay progression)?”
“Why is the salary band so tight—how do raises and promotion reviews work here?”
For the Job-Seeker Seekers
Are you writing a job ad for a similar role? Consider these hidden issues that might impact the success of your recruitment campaign:
Role creep risk: You’re hiring “marketing,” but advertising an internal traffic-controller. Outcome: burnout, churn, constant backfills. Fix: split “sample/logistics coordination” vs “marketing execution,” or clearly weight time allocation.
Approval bottleneck risk: “Ensure sign-off” without authority makes the coordinator the scapegoat for other departments’ delays. Fix: define owners and escalation paths (and state them).
Acronym / insider language risk: CS/QA/OPPS reads like a closed club. Outcome: fewer qualified applicants, more mismatches. Fix: write it out once with the first use, and don’t cut corners by using acronyms as a substitute for meaningful language.
Employer-brand vacuum: A marketing job post that doesn’t market the company implies bland culture and low creativity. Outcome: you repel the best candidates. Fix: add purpose, values-in-action, and what’s uniquely good about the environment.
Compensation signal risk: A narrow $50–55K band telegraphs limited negotiation and potentially capped growth. Outcome: fewer strong applicants and faster exits. Fix: widen bands, or explicitly explain progression and review cadence.
Accessibility miss: No mention of interview accommodations is a needless own-goal. Outcome: exclusion and reputational risk. Fix: add a simple accommodations statement and process.
The Verdict
Jennifer Houle: 7 / 10
I liked this job posting. I think it was honest. A couple of little tweaks here and there would make it even better. I would have liked to have seen something that talks about how to accommodate candidates in the interview process though.
Paul Austin-Menear: 6 / 10
There are there are some missed opportunities here. There was nothing in this job posting that painted a compelling picture on why I should join them and contribute to their shared purpose. That matters.
Roast the Post is a passion project of Jen Houle and Paul Austin-Menear. The show helps job-seekers and employers get dud job ads out of their lives. We use tips to help pay for our production costs, and donate anything raised beyond our costs to charity.
