BR Back SIGN UP FOR UPDATES May 28, 2021 Yes, I ‘can’ do it. Get Job Description Skills Right. Can be physically or mentally able to Source Can is a weak word. While it represents one’s ability to do something, it does so while ignoring levels of proficiency and experience. It demonstrates an absence of assertive direction that most people prefer and which helps guide them upon reviewing opportunities where job description skills are defined. I remember being challenged in school when I said I can do something. My teacher would always say “can you or will you?” Will is an auxiliary verb that Merriam-Webster defines as – “used to express futurity.” Similar to the word am, these words imply action – they instill confidence. Does the description of responsibilities clearly define levels of proficiency needed? Are they asking too much of a single person? Just because a person can do something, doesn’t mean they should. And often, frustration is created between different functions within a company when proficiencies between resources aren’t well-aligned. A description of responsibilities must include a score for the level of vitality required for each bullet point. Statements like “strongly preferred” are subjective and don’t clearly paint a picture for an applicant. Vaguery doesn’t help, either – I saw this bullet point in a job description, today – “Work collaboratively with [COMPANY] email, text, digital marketing, and web experts to develop integrated channel campaign strategies.” How? In what capacity? What would ‘my’ role be? And by the way…how generic and buzz-wordy can you be??? Good job descriptions need to be detailed and as objective as possible. When writing job descriptions, bullet points that read “work with our data science team…” are extremely unclear because I don’t know in what capacity and if I am qualified to interact the way you need me to do so. An example of this is when companies want marketers to write SQL statements. In my experience, this pisses off DBA’s who struggle to make sense out of functioning, yet sloppy and discombobulated statements that ultimately cause more work for them. That is why job descriptions are important, but making sure they are accurate is another matter, entirely. Why good job descriptions are important I had a conversation with one company about an email marketing opportunity. The job description skills of this opportunity included a bullet point that reads “proficiency with using Salesforce Marketing Cloud (ExactTarget) strongly preferred.” I then read the required qualifications section, which noted– “proficiency with using Salesforce Marketing Cloud (ExactTarget) required.” Most job postings are written in a similar, careless way, making a would-be candidate turned off the moment they read them. I’ll let you in on a little secret – when I vet a company, for any reason, I don’t care about blog postings…I care about job postings. Yes, factors such as grammar and laziness (e.g. copying and pasting from Word, including conflicting bullet points as noted above) play a big part in this vetting but neither answers a fundamental question – does this company have a clue? This answer only comes after we begin to review the specific duties of a given position. The implications of bad job descriptions One, major frustration with the way most job descriptions are written, is that they often reflect illogical lists of qualifications that no one person can possibly bear. And even if they could, to demand so much from a single person would mean quality is sacrificed, somewhere. (My favorite job descriptions call for Email Marketing Managers with experience in SEO, SEM, Social, and SQL. You can’t help but laugh.) As I often do, allow me to make a comparison to a chef. A chef can make you an amazing meal. Great chefs can chop onions, prep a kitchen, debone a fish, make complex sauces and so much more – all requiring technical know-how. But a chef can’t do all of these simultaneously. And there are several aspects of being a chef where, despite being willing to step up to the plate (bootstrap) to get the job done, they must rely on the expertise of others to ensure minimum quality standards never waiver. Who is responsible for writing job descriptions? Too often, job descriptions are written by those who aren’t qualified to do so, given the (often) technical nature of various positions. And then HR personnel are forced to ask questions about specific job description skills that neither they nor the hiring manager even understands. An HR professional can repeat questions that were written for them which allows them to qualify a candidate. But without deeper knowledge and level of training/experience, they cannot possibly quantify the candidate’s response or ask pertinent follow-up questions. I can use Photoshop and if a time comes when a designer is out or I need to do something quickly, I’ll do it, without hesitation. But outside of these moments, because I can do it doesn’t mean I have the interest, availability, or skills necessary to ensure the best results possible. Companies that create such poorly written job descriptions fall into two buckets, based on my experience – They are putting the cart before the horse as they are hiring for positions for which they do not fully understand the duties They lack the budget, organizational structure, or there is political gridlock created by someone who thinks they know everything that a hiring manager can’t overrule And in either case, you should consider these as warning signs before applying or working with such a company. As a message to HR personnel, recruiters, and hiring managers – please stop trying to find that perfect candidate who can do it all and focus on finding the ideal hire who will work their ass off to help you achieve your greatest potential. Share On: DON’T MISS OUT SIGN UP FOR UPDATES Get notified about Riback’s latest blog posts, news, and more, straight to your inbox. Quick Links Intro Signature Achievements Proficiencies Work Experience Blogs Testimonials Contact Ebook The Latest Who made you an expert? Loyalty. Loyalty Marketing isn’t a... Objective Opinion – two conflicting... Sales Enablement. Why? Just…Why? ... Analysis and the BS artists... Contact Ramsey, NJ (USA) E: brian@riback.com W: www.riback.com © 2021 riback.com. All Rights reserved.