Be Careful What You Wish For…

This is, I’ll admit, a difficult topic.   You’re trying to find the right description to get just the right person. 

Example…you want a gardener to plant a border of yellow daffodils across your company’s property.  We need to get this right so the gardener can ‘hit the ground running’.

Must have 5 years experience planting yellow daffodils in company gardens.

That does it, doesn’t it?  It’s specific; it makes sure they have not just planted bulbs in a garden…at home…once.  It would tend to indicate that they know a daffodil bulb when they see one.

I think you can see the problem.  You’ve eliminated gardeners whose experience is in parks or ones who have only planted tulips, but would be perfectly capable of doing the job.

Are you asking for specific skills when broad based knowledge might be better?  Are you looking for time spent, when you want a skill level?  How specific does the skill actually have to be?  Would a candidate with a track record of learning beat out someone who has practiced the same thing for years on end?

#4 Corollary:  Be aware of what you REALLY need and put THAT in the job description.

#4 Use the KISS Principle

(Keep it Simple Stupid!)

 

Here are the notes I put down for this topic:

   1. Cut the company info

   2. Hone the job description

   3. Focus on key skills and experience

I think that says it all…but since you asked….

1.  Unless you invented your company in the garage yesterday, your company has a website and can be Googled for company information.  A good candidate will find this out (both the good and the bad!).  They are interested in THE JOB. 

2.  Paragraph after paragraph of every last daily detail may be needed for the company job description you file in the archives, but it is not needed here.   Cut the old job description down to a readable number of major tasks that are pertinent to the job.  My take: more than 6 short paragraphs or 10 shorter bullets is overkill.

3.   This is the key.   Most candidates will skip by the company info, scan the job details and dig into the needed skills section.   Spend your time here.     

Believe it or not, I’ve seen job descriptions with NO required skills listings.  The other end of the scale,  the L…O…N…G laundry list of skills, doesn’t work either.  

So next…a little more on this.

…but we need candidates in the pipeline

“The budget for this quarter is empty, but if things go well we might have something shortly…we’ll post a job and see who applies.  We can have candidates ready to go when we get the funding!”

BUT…will your best candidates still be eager when the budget finally arrives?  

Why sift through all the candidates you certainly don’t want?

My take:   What a perfect opportunity to try out methods that are outside your ‘plan’ and see if they work for you.  Who can you find on LinkedIn?  Does network, network, network work?  Who’s hot in the news in your field?   Who do they know?  

Hey!…you might find an ‘outside the box’ solution to the whole hiring process and the world will love you!   

Live in the Moment

 

#3 Corollary:  Keep the information about your jobs up to date.

Remember this announcement I found in November:

“Please note that these assignments are filled quickly. Jobs posted yesterday may not be available today (last updated September 2011), so register now!”

...or the call back six months after the application went in?

Simply put…

You are looking for the best candidate.   What do these announcements say about your company?    Out of touch?  Sloppy?   Careless?  Moves like a snail?