Impact of Sentiment Adjectives on Recruitment Language: A Corpus-Based Comparison of Chinese and Spanish Job Ads

Adjectives play a key role in shaping recruitment language by influencing how job requirements and company culture are perceived. This study applies a corpus-based critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the use of sentiment adjectives in Chinese and Spanish job advertisements. It analyzed 160 job ads from China’s 51job.com and Spain’s Indeed platform, focusing on STEM and non-STEM fields. Using tools like TreeTagger and Rost CM6, it conducted frequency and sentiment analysis to see how adjectives reflect work environments and potential biases. The results show a strong preference for positive adjectives in Chinese ads, while Spanish ads feature a more balanced mix of neutral and positive adjectives. Interviews with recent graduates further highlight how these language patterns affect their perceptions of job opportunities. This study provides useful insights for job seekers and employers on how to write and interpret recruitment ads effectively.