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Sausage Dog research, datasets and commentary picked up by UK HR and careers publications.
The job advert cliches everyone complains about have almost disappeared
Original analysis of 5,975 UK job adverts across 29 occupations, counting the cliches candidates mock. The famous ones are nearly extinct: "rockstar", "ninja" and "guru" appeared zero times, "go-getter" once, "self-starter" in 0.2% of adverts. What replaced them is emotional language ("passionate" in 18% of adverts, over 50% for teaching assistants) clustered on people-facing roles, while trade and driving adverts stay nearly cliche-free. Ninth HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
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appearances of "rockstar", "ninja" or "guru" in 5,975 UK job adverts
- HR Press
Why 'fast-paced' might be putting your best applicants off
Original analysis of 5,982 UK job adverts across 29 occupations on one of recruitment's favourite phrases, "fast-paced". It turns up in 54% of retail adverts, 43% of recruitment adverts and 33% of customer service adverts, but just 4% of waitressing adverts and 1% of HGV driving adverts, the jobs that are genuinely relentless. The piece shows the phrase now reads to many candidates as a warning about understaffing, and gives HR teams three ways to describe demanding roles without filler. Eighth HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
- HR Press
The ATS myth: only 2.6% of 5,012 UK job adverts named an applicant tracking system
Original analysis of 5,012 UK job adverts across 24 occupations. Only 2.6% named an actual applicant tracking system (ATS) such as Workday, TRAC or NHS Jobs, and among adverts that state how to apply, two thirds point to a person rather than a portal. Automated screening is real, but it concentrates in the NHS, the public sector and large corporate employers, so for most frontline and trade jobs a human reads your CV. Seventh HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
- HR Press
Your job advert has a gender: we read 5,000 UK adverts and the language is still heavily coded
Original analysis of more than 5,000 UK job adverts across 24 occupations, measuring masculine and feminine-coded language. Recruitment adverts run 56% masculine (driven, competitive, ambitious); teaching assistant adverts run 85% feminine (supportive, caring, committed). The split maps almost exactly onto the jobs men and women already do, and the wording quietly shapes who applies. Sixth HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
- HR Press
Inside 5,000 UK job adverts: only 6% ask for a degree
Original analysis of 5,012 UK job adverts across 24 occupations. Only 6% mention a degree, and many of those say "or equivalent". What actually gates a UK job is a professional qualification or a background check, not a university degree. Fifth HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
- HR Press
The shortlist gap: what your job advert asks for, and what actually gets people hired
Original analysis of more than 3,000 UK job adverts on the gap between what adverts list as "essential" and what actually gets candidates shortlisted. Recruiters lean on measurable achievements and comparable experience over long requirement lists, so the piece argues for shorter asks, evidence over adjectives, and clearer scope. Fourth HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper, founder of Sausage Dog.
- HR Press
Inside 102 UK office admin job adverts: why the Microsoft Office requirement quietly disappeared
Original analysis of 102 UK office admin adverts. Microsoft Office is named in just 1% of adverts, communication leads at 69%, and organisational skills (54%) outrank prior admin experience (38%). Third HR Press piece by Anthony Clasper.
- HR Press
Inside 119 NHS nurse job adverts: what NHS Trusts can teach HR teams about advertising for values, not skills
Original analysis of 119 UK NHS Staff Nurse adverts. MDT working (55%) outranked NMC registration (65%) as the most-prominent ask, leadership appeared in 37% of Band 5 entry-grade posts, and "compassion" tracked NHS Constitution language consistently. Second piece in HR Press by Anthony Clasper.
- Connectively
12 Skills Recruiters Need to Develop for Future Relevance in the Talent Landscape
Anthony Clasper quoted as founder of Sausage Dog in a Connectively expert roundup on recruiter skills, citing 776 UK job adverts read by hand to advocate for plain, precise advert language over vague phrasing.
- HR Press
Inside 200 UK recruitment job adverts: what pay transparency and performance language tell HR teams about applicant quality
Original analysis of 200 UK recruiter and talent acquisition adverts. 92% openly state OTE, 94% are permanent, 55% want "driven" candidates. Published in HR Press, a UK HR industry publication.
For journalists
Primary data on UK hiring, free to cite.
Sausage Dog runs original first-party research on UK job adverts across nursing, care, teaching, social work, recruitment, plumbing, HGV, electrician and office admin roles. 1,347 adverts analysed to date, each dataset tagged with schema.org/Dataset, CC-BY licensed, free to quote.
Custom keyword analysis for a specific UK role usually 24-hour turnaround.