Candidate Preparation

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

While writing job descriptions is not a favourite activity for any staffing professional, it does not have to be labour intensive.  You do not have to reinvent the wheel, there are many good free resources out there that will help you cut your time in half.

A good source of job information is the NOC.  The NOC stands for National Occupational Classification is a Canadian system of job classification.  It has a government website that contains job classification information.  You can use it to look up job analysis information such as job descriptions, hiring requirements, common work environment analysis, and so on.  The good thing about this system and the job documents found there is the rigor and standardization that goes into each job.  The documents found there simply describe the job in the simplest terms and does not contain the confusing flowery language sometimes found in many company written job ads.  The NOC has a great search feature that allows you to find the job you are trying to fill.

Another good source of job information is online job boards.  Job boards such as Monster and Careerbuilder contain virtually every job description.  You can go onto these sites and easily search for the job description or posting that you desire.

So don’t reinvent the wheel, use resources like the NOC and online job boards to provide a starting point to write your job description and posting.

Interview the Hiring Manager

Once you have your draft job description created, it is a good idea to have a sit down with the hiring manager to review it and ask questions.  This will give the hiring a chance to provide clarification of job requirements through dialogue.  The goal here is at the very least understand what the job does.  When reviewing your job documents with your client, some of the questions you may want to ask include;

• Of these responsibilities which are the most important to you, and the organization?
• What are the typical problems at this job handles?
• How much autonomy does this job have?
• Who Will this job have to speak to in order to perform its duties?
• Describe the work environment?
• What’s the most common error committed in this position?
  
• How does that impact the company?
• What kind of education is required in this position?  Identify degree, diploma, certification, professional association names and acronyms.  How would you prioritize these educational requirements?
• What kinds of work history with potential candidates come from?  Identify job titles, industries, competitors, and so on.

At this stage while asking your client what they want, be careful of the “manager’s wish list”.   The “manager’s wish list” is client wants someone with a Ph.D. to file papers.  So here is your opportunity to provide your expertise, share your knowledge of the job market, candidate pools, and so forth.  It is also your chance to frame and ground your client’s expectations.  Your goal is to find a balance between the managers wish list and the job requirements.  The objective is to create a vision that is realistic as well as satisfy your client.  If you fail have a clear understanding of the job requirements and a realistic candidate profile, you might as well be off on a search for the Loch Ness Monster.

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