Smarter Hires

A shout-out to J.K. Glei of Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List for this excellent piece on putting together a job description. I found it on OpenForum, a great resource for small business owners (http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/managing/article/save-time-with-a-well-crafted-job-description-j-k-glei)

“For those of us who lack a dedicated HR person, writing a job posting that makes it easy to weed out the unqualified candidates – and thus waste less time reviewing non-relevant apps – is of paramount importance. Here are a few tips on how to build some self-selection into your job postings:

” 1. Include instructions that help you filter. You always want to be clear about how to apply for the position. Do you want a cover letter? Is a portfolio required? If it is, say so. Most importantly, clarify a specific subject line (e.g. JOB: Office Manager) that you want them to include. If the applicant overlooks any of these guidelines in their application, you can weed them out in seconds. They’re probably not the “detail-oriented” person you want. Speaking of…

” 2. Be specific. Get rid of stock phrases like “detail-oriented” or “team player.” The more that you use hackneyed phrases, the more likely you are to get bland applications that echo the same vague language. Instead, be specific. Tending to the details means different things for different positions: for customer service, detail-oriented might mean being particularly empathic, attuned to callers’ moods; for a web developer, detail-oriented might mean writing clean code that can be easily picked up and adapted by any other developer.

” 3. Ask questions. Typically, job descriptions just outline the position’s responsibilities and necessary skills, while asking nothing specific of the applicant other than a cover letter, resume, and/or portfolio. While these materials give you a general view of the applicant, they tell you little about how they might fit into your particular company. Yet, asking a single question can go a long way to separating the wheat from the chaff. They can be specific to your company: Tell us one thing that you think would improve the functionality of our website? Or more general inquiries about personality: Describe an instance where you took initiative outside of work. When compared side by side, applicants’ answers to these sorts of questions can be incredibly telling.

” 4. Bounce the job descript off someone who actually does the job. Unless you’re a stickler for always maintaining current job descriptions, it’s often the case that something on the skills list will be either outmoded or missing. Check in with the person actually doing the job – if there is one – for some feedback on what might need to be removed or added based on changes in the position’s responsibilities.

” 5. Let your company culture shine through. Are you running a fast-paced start-up with 5-10 people who work weekends? Or is it a fairly established mid-sized company that gives employees summer Fridays off? Whatever it is that defines the culture of your company (e.g. early-morning surfing trips, group lunches, standing meetings, etc), let that shine through in the job description. The more you show of your own personality the more likely you are to attract like-minded people.”

Tags: job_description, position_description, small_business

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 3:16 am and is filed under Job Description. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.