I don't get your job descriptions

👋🏽 What the under-represented junior candidates are saying:

“The problem I have is that I only have a small amount of experience in the corporate world.

So for me, it’s hard to really understand what a lot of these jobs actually mean. This is especially true if there’s lots of corporate jargon, acronyms or internal language that I’m not too familiar with.

Sometimes it feels a bit like employers are trying to sell the job to us rather than informing us so we can decide if it’s right. I understand the job needs to be promoted but I find it tough to write a really good application if I don’t fully get the job description.

Any time I see preferred qualifications or experience that I don’t have, I never apply even though I know these aren’t necessary requirements.

That’s because I know the best jobs are competitive so I expect other applicants with these qualifications will apply and after going through the entire application process I’ll be rejected because I don’t have them.

Lastly, I find it a bit surprising that I’m expected to make such a big decision about who to work for without knowing much about what the working environment and office are like and who I’ll be working with.”

🤔 My key takeaways:

Candidates want to better understand these questions:

• What will I be doing day-to-day?

• How does the job contribute to what the business creates?

• How does the job connect to the wider teams?

• What working in your organisation is really like?

They want to see job descriptions that are:

✅ Educational, teach me about the role rather than pitch it to me

✅ Concise and to the point using friendly and catchy copywriting avoiding corporate jargon and acronyms

✅ Include videos from TA or Hiring Managers explaining the role and company (Gen Z are nosey! Take them behind the scenes if you can)

✅ Cut out unnecessary requirements

✅ Give clear examples of tasks or outline a typical day

And surely include a few emojis no?

Until next time, happy talent attracting.

Tobi

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