Yesterday’s Advisor covered Recruiting Sin #1—Hiring before you know what you need. Today, how to take your understanding of the job and turn it into a posting that will attract great candidates and turn away undesirable ones.
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Describe the Job
Start by listing the key duties, responsibilities, and tasks of the person who will hold this position. Indicate the percentage of time spent on each responsibility. Star the essential functions of the position.
If you didn’t start with the current job description, get one, and compare it with your list. Revise the list (or the job description) as necessary.
Identify any flexibility you have in assigning tasks. Are there parts of the job that a co-worker could take on if top candidates are unable to perform that particular part?
To help identify key capabilities, ask yourself:
- What failure in performance would likely get the person in this job fired?
- What aspects of this job have caused the greatest problems for management?
Identify Key Traits and Skills
Once you have identified what you need the person to do, you need to identify the key skills, traits, and characteristics a candidate must possess to do it. For example:
- What technical experience and expertise must the candidate possess?
- What capabilities and characteristics are necessary?
- Must the person be able to:
- Coordinate with others?
- Work under pressure?
- Meet deadlines?
- Must the person be:
- Persuasive, persistent, diplomatic?
- Able to close sales?
- Able to motivate others?
- Mathematically inclined?
- Team-oriented?
Each job is different, but all jobs have characteristics that you can identify and that you can evaluate as you look at candidates.
Revisiting your recruiting strategy and want to know best practices? Start on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, with a new interactive webinar, Recruiting and Technology: What’s Happening in the Real World? Learn More
Translate to Postable
Once you are confident you know what capabilities and characteristics you are looking for, you have to translate that into terms you can publicize and post for potential candidates.
So, for example, you might want to specify:
- A certain number of years of experience at a specific job or job type
- Specific duties experienced or responsibilities held
- Experiences required
- Degrees, certifications, or special training required
- Computer software familiarity
- Language capability
Marketing and Branding
Don’t forget to add information about your organization. Your posting is also a marketing tool—so sell your company and the opportunities it presents as part of your posting.
Final Check
Before sending it out, review your posting critically: Would someone reading this get a good picture of the job and what you are looking for? Will the information help unqualified applicants screen themselves out? Will the candidate you want be attracted to your position at the salary you can pay? If you are satisfied, you are ready to start sourcing.
Job postings are just one of the many aspects to consider in your overall recruiting strategy. Things are changing fast; technology is taking over, social media is on the rise, and even traditional methods are constantly evolving. What’s going on with recruiting in this dynamic business climate? Fortunately, there’s timely help in the form of BLR’s new webinar—Recruiting and Technology: What’s Happening in the Real World? In just 30 minutes, on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, you’ll learn everything you need to know about our latest research into what’s happening in the ever-evolving field of recruiting.
Register today for this interactive webinar.
Recruiting is the backbone of a successful organization, and it’s challenging in 2015. Join us Tuesday, April 21, 2015, for a new interactive webinar, Recruiting and Technology: What’s Happening in the Real World? Register Now
By participating in this interactive webinar, you’ll learn:
- What methods are being used to recruit
- What’s negotiable
- What jobs are filled online
- What’s the cost-per-hire for online recruiting
- What are the pros and cons of online recruiting
- Retention—What actions are organizations taking, and which are most effective
- What are typical results for:
- Cost per Hire
- Time to Fill in Days for Various Positions.
- Quality of Hire
- How are recruiters using social media?
- Who is considering a “Zappos” approach?
- What’s the role of the company website and recruiting pages?
- And much more!
Register now for this event risk-free.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (Eastern)
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Central)
12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Mountain)
11:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (Pacific)