Job descriptions are used on a daily basis by so many people, recruiters blast their networks with them, companies post them online and candidates ask for them to better understand roles. People qualify or disqualify themselves for opportunities based off it and others use them to build their resumes. What I’ve learnt through my experience is that they are often generic and only give people a fraction of the information that people are looking for.
I believe the problem stems from the fact that for the most part they are written by HR and made to be generic so that they don’t have to consistently be re-written. They all look similar from company to company and don’t offer any true insight as to why you should consider this new position. They don’t contain a lot of the most important information like projects, challenges or benefits that the company offers.
Organizations are trying to attract top talent using them and with an unemployment rate of under 2% in the Montreal IT market, almost everyone is already working. With such a war on talent, people in IT are receiving upwards of 10 solicitations a day. It’s become white noise and more of a nuisance than a way to get people interested in a new role.
As a candidate what information do you look for considering new opportunities? As an organization what are you doing to attract top IT talent?
Personally, I look to gain insight from the hiring manager, employees in the company as well as on the team and anyone else who might be involved in the hiring process. Through this I can get the information needed to truly help people understand why they this new role is aligned to them and how it helps them advance their career.
Jason Levy
Co-Founder @ Avansai
