> When asked why he didn't apply as a C programmer, high salary and consequently an expectation of very high demands were explicitly named as a demotivating fac

> When asked why he didn't apply as a C programmer, high salary and consequently an expectation of very high demands were explicitly named as a demotivating factor. Keep in mind that this is a learned response (although imposter syndrome accounts for some of it) that you have to deliberately defuse in your job listing. Phrasing such as "The following is a list of nice-to-have skills. We do not expect candidates to have experience with all, or even most, of them." will help. You should also make it clear if you prefer candidates that have broad+shallow experience in more of the listed areas or narrow+deep in very few (or even just one), assuming you have a preference. If not, make sure you say that too. Another thing is stating that you are looking for people with demonstrable learning skills rather than specific pre-existing knowledge. If you don't make this sort of thing as explicit as possible, potential candidates will mostly assume that your position conforms to their past experience (which is mostly bad). So much for improving your tactics in the job-posting approach. You should also examine shifting strategies to other channels such as job fairs to get candidates before they give up on the local job market, or referral bounties (which can get you good candidates that aren't actively looking), or even getting local media coverage by sending out press releases (I recommend the excellent book 'Bulletproof News Releases'). Heck, geotargeted Google ads might even work if you can figure out appropriate search terms.