A fresh take from the pros at WikHR on how to write a job posting that will have the perfect candidates running to you instead of having to spend your time chasing them!
So your company is growing, or you have to backfill a critical role, and you’re wondering how to write a job description that will attract exactly the right type of candidates. Perhaps the position has never had a fully written job description before, perhaps the position has changed in scope since the last time the role was open, or maybe the worst case scenario – you only have a list of minimum requirements from the government contract with no additional information and hard to understand language!
Use WikHR’s three tips, and structure to write an amazingly simple yet descriptive job posting.
Tip 1: Start with the minimum requirements, and work backwards
When you get down to the very core essence of the job, there should ideally be an easily answered question of “what will this person do?” That answer ideally has just one or two sentences, and is followed by “what tools will they use to accomplish those tasks?”. Now that sounds very simple, but by constantly referring to those two questions, you can see where you have some ‘give and take’ with the role.
Here’s an example of those two simple questions in action: Perhaps the position is a Mid-Level Software Developer, and you know that they will create new software for clients of your company. The tools that you know they will use include AngularJS and SQL. You also know that they’ll be on a team where they won’t have to mentor any Junior Developers, but also that the Team Lead is probably too busy to mentor them at all times. They essentially have to be ‘self-sufficient’, but definitely not an “expert level” developer. Now that you’ve determined those data points, it begs further questions – is there a difference in ‘self-sufficiency’ between a developer with five years of experience versus six years? Or, if you know your Team Lead is an expert in AngularJS, is it more important then that this new employee is competent in SQL?
Very quickly you come to a description that looks like:
Mid-Level Software Developer
5+ years of experience in software development
Experience with developing new software from scratch on behalf of clients
Familiarity with AngularJS
Strong experience with SQL
Capable of working independently with minimal input and guidance from Team Lead (but they will always be around as a resource!)
That critical thinking exercise led to about 50% of a job description right there, and it took only 5 minutes to make! Most importantly, it’s a great foundation for the rest of the process, and creating something that will actually attract candidates.
Tip 2: Less is more, we promise!
Especially when dealing with government contracts, some managers get ‘wrapped around the axle’ in checking every box in the requirements section. We’ve dealt with many PM’s and Hiring Managers who consider the entire job description not as a “wish-list” but more as set-in-stone requirements. In reality, that’s not how things work on the candidate’s side! In a recently conducted Robert Half survey from 2019, fully 42% of candidates apply for positions where they know they don’t meet all of the qualifications. And we can promise you that they’re not wasting your time!
Imagine this scenario – you’re working on a very advanced AI/Machine Learning project with a Team Lead who is quite capable in that area. They would be happier with a Data Analyst to use tools like R, Python, and Tableau that helps the Team Lead complete this work. Would you love a data analyst who has experience with Machine Learning and Big Data? Of course! But you are possibly missing out on great employees who could learn that aspect of the role (especially since most of their work will be on the analytics side). So you can delete the need for experience with AI and Big Data from the requirements list, and you can stop turning down candidates just because they haven’t had the chance to work on a project like this.
Now does that mean that you should delete the nature of the project from your job description entirely? Absolutely not! Especially during these tough times of the “Great Resignation”, it truly is a candidate’s marketplace. In the IT and Technology industry in the US, we’re actually experiencing negative unemployment. Such an interesting project is something our managers here at WikHR call a “hook” that you can use to attract candidates! You can turn something that was a hang-up preventing you from hiring the right person into a tool to help you attract the perfect applicant.
Turn in to Part 2 of this article series to learn about using “hooks” and the overall best theory to keep in mind when crafting a job posting!