Job Specifications / Descriptions

whatnext

Rather than derail another thread I thought I might start a thread on this to give a platform to discuss the topic and perhaps even make people aware of what has happened and maybe even get them to rethink their strategy.

If you scroll down through the thousands of jobs that are advertised on line at the moment I think you will find that the vast majority have no job descriptions.

The majority have employer requirements, not a job specification.

I would like to throw out a suggestion to recruiters and HR professionals alike:
Why not challenge your clients / hiring managers to actually formulate a "job Specification" Ask them "what are the duties of the position".

Too often we see requirements with essential experience and qualifications.
If a clients says that a role requires a 2:1 degree or an MBA for example ask them why. Are professional qualifications really needed or are they merely desirable? Ask what will they be signing off on that makes this essential.
More often than not the Requirements are a wish list, you need to challenge this wish list to find out what is really needed.

Time and time again I get ridiculous job specs that contain no detail on the nature of the job, reporting structure, systems, deliverables or outline of what the candidate will be doing on a day to day basis. Are these not fundamental details that are needed to fill a vacancy.

As a recruiter or HR professional you are paid for your expertise. It is not a sin to challenge people, clients and managers are not Gods, they are not beyond reproach. Hiring managers also need to understand that their input has a direct correlation to the results a recruiter or HR professional can deliver.

Most "job specs" now read as though they are a list of reasons to reject an applicant.

A simple test would be to hand an advertisement to the receptionist or a friend not in the company and ask them "what do you think this person be doing when I hire them?" If they haven't got a clue - why spend the money advertising or b!tching about the responses.

Anyone like to add to this or comment?

chris85

Your wording seems to lead to an agressive confrontation with your clients, by suggesting challenging a client, you never "challenge" a client. You must remember who pays for it all at the end of the day, the client. You can certainly respectfully talk to them and ask them for more details on the role and if it would be more beneficial for more to be included in the job spec. If they feel its not necessary then you drop it.

Most people applying for the job would know what the role entails if they are in the industry. I have went for jobs with fairly basic spec but I know what the duties of the role entail as I am in the industry. More detail will be discussed at the interview.

Also if doesnt matter if a degree/masters is required to do the job, if the client want it, you get it for them. They say to jump you do it and smile. Often companies want people with the professionalism and dedication required to get a degree/masters, more so than the particular learnings got in the course. Masters students are excellent researchers most often and have achieved a higher standard of education which isnt easy.

Mr. Loverman

This is a topic I could talk about all day. I haven't slept (it's 13:30 where I am) so I'm going to just throw out a few bullet points:

• Job specs can often be quite hopeful - they describe the ideal candidate.
• The spec may have been written by someone hoping to impress their boss with their clever (over) analysis of the vacancy.
• The spec may have been written by a manager trying to score political points, e.g. "See! What we do in this department is really complicated. Respect us! Increase our budget!"
• Someone from HR may have edited the spec by adding nonsense (e.g. must have a masters degree).
• The employer may be receiving tons of CVs (relevant and/or irrelevant), so have bumped up the requirements for quality control reasons.
• The employer may be inexperienced so doesn't really know how to write a job spec.
• Recruiters are often sales people and know little about hiring let alone the roles they are advertising.

But all of the above doesn't really matter. It's an employers market so things ain't going to change. Be patient and keep applying for jobs!