Who pays people to write job descriptions? Whatever the pay-rate, it's too much.
Every now and then a job posting catches my eye. But not for the right reasons. This morning, while browsing through Linked In, I saw in the "Jobs Recommended For You" section a position was posted that I thought a former colleague may be interested in. So, I clicked.
Within the first sentence of the job description, I read "under the close supervision..." and I had to re-read it to make sure someone actually wrote that. They did.
As a professional, if you ask me what the top 100 things are that I want out of an employer..."close supervision" doesn't make that list. In fact, if I were to make a similar list of the top 100 things I do NOT want, "close supervision" is probably in the top 3.
Who writes this stuff? Better yet...who writes this stuff and expects high quality candidates? Job postings are marketing. I've sounded off about this before but am continually shocked at how terribly written these postings are. How boring. Bland. Uninspiring. And then I read about how these same companies have a hard time attracting high caliber candidates.
Are you kidding?!?
How about we first acknowledge that no one, I repeat, no one...wants a position in which they are "closely supervised." If you, hiring manager, cannot trust your people to do their job...then you, hiring manager...failed to hire the right person. Period.
Daniel Pink gave a Ted Talk about the three things people want out of a job: 1. The opportunity to master skills. 2. Purpose. 3. Autonomy.
No where in there was "close supervision." In fact, 'autonomy' is the polar opposite of "close supervision."
In order to attract high-quality candidates we have to start viewing job postings as a marketing function. We have to sell the job. We have to sell our organization. We have to drop the arrogance that our organization is so fantastic that everyone should want to work for us.
Stop drinking your own kool-aid. Stop being lazy. Stop recruiting in sub-par candidates and blaming it on the candidate pool.
You want the best candidates? Sell candidates on the job. Sell them on the company. Sell yourself...not as a manager but as someone who is going to help the new hire master new skills, find purpose and have autonomy.
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