Power of the People: Talent Acquisition–Job Postings

I am always looking at job descriptions for professional reasons–always looking for a new challenge and always looking to see how organizations are running their talent acquisition processes.? Sometimes I learn, other times I cringe.? Good news for HR folks–there is ample opportunity to trounce the competition because a lot out there is extremely poor.? High-value talent will not tolerate follies; we walk away (if you are lucky, we let you know that you missed).? With even slight improvements to your processes you can get a better shot at hiring up the talent scale.

I want to start first with the job posting.? For most folks this is where they first start to consider your organization.? First impressions matter.? So, here are the steps to posting a job.? I would love to hear what you think.

First:? Have a job opening.

If you are speccing a job for a proposal, you do not have a job opening.

If you are hiring internally, you do not have a job opening.

If you are hiring a friend or a friend of a friend, you do not have a job opening.

If you are ready to hire today and have a person start in the next week (and be paid the week after), you have a job.? Only then can you start thinking about posting a job.

Second:? Figure out the real job responsibilities.? Use the test of “does the job really require that the person does Y to be successful?”

Do folks really need a designation or degree or that many years?

Succinctly describe what the successful candidate will be doing.

Confirm that the descriptions are not discriminatory.

You almost never need a “young, enthusiastic” anything or someone able to “hear” or other discriminatory terms.

Do not use the word “incumbent.”

No one will ever be lifting 75 pounds without assistance.

Do not be vague.? No one knows what “Level of language skills, mathematical skills, communication skills, reasoning ability and computer skills necessary to perform essential functions of the job” means.

Avoid jargon, including abbreviations.? No, a qualified person will have no idea what you meant when you put “ABC” in the description when ABC means several things.

You will not want someone to “fit” into your culture, but “add” to it.

Do not rely upon job titles; there are no universal titles.? Yes, tell the title, but the title is just the name, it conveys no information on the responsibilities as your organization defines them or what is expected at this specific job.

Third:? Figure out the pay range.

You have a budget and you need comparable pay information.? To get decent candidates, you will need to reveal the pay range.

You are never “competitive.”

You are never “generous.”

You might be within the “industry standard,” but applicants deserve to know what you think that standard is.

The pay is never “dependent upon qualifications.”

The pay is never “commensurate with experience and responsibilities.”

If you do not know the pay range, do not post the job.

Confirm the classification of the job as employee and exemption status.? It is very involved if you want to decide between employee and contractor/1099 and exempt/non-exempt.? An improper classification will cost dearly and is poor form.

Fourth:? Have information available on the company, the job, the reporting structure, the location, the work conditions, the benefits, and why the job is open.? That information needs to be readily available to the applicant and recruiters.

The first person that you offer up to discuss the job needs to be familiar with these critical pieces of information.? Now is not the time to look lost.

Like pay, this is not a scavenger hunt.? Be upfront.? Be honest.

Fifth: Set a hard/soft deadline.? The deadline is hard for you to get back to applicants and get them to the interview stage and soft in that folks can apply until the job is filled with a person getting paid.

No one needs to wait for you and no one needs to hurry up to apply.

Everyone who applies should be evaluated; your goal is to fill the job, but broader, it is to fill your organization with great people.? So, if someone is out there worth working with, you need to figure out how to get them to come.? (Applicants will be doing the converse and seeing if they want to be in your organization, but not that particular role.)

Next up, the application process.? Lots of land mines to avoid there.? I will address those next.? Then, interviewing.? What else do we need to improve to get great talent into our doors?