Job Descriptions: Friend and Foe and Friend

The “who wants whom more” dynamic between job hunters and talent-acquisition professionals changes over the years, but regardless of that balance, hirers will always need to hire. Job descriptions will need to be written. So, what are some things you should consider when drawing up a sketch of the role you’re looking to fill?

In 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics looked at a 41-year study conducted by the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and found that “Individuals born in the latter years of the baby boom (1957–64) held an average of 12.7 jobs from ages 18 to 56…” (Participants were interviewed every year between 1979 and 1994 and every other year between 1994 and 2023.)

Fast forwarding to a more recent BLS news release that examined select job trends for the month of October, we have this: “The number of job openings increased in professional and business services” by 209,000. The number of quits, layoffs, and discharges was 5.3 million (a decrease over the year).

Given all that, it seems reasonable to imagine that today’s average worker may hold a greater number of jobs than their parents or grandparents. This, in turn, would mean that the number of job descriptions they consult will have increased exponentially.

RECENT TRENDS

You’ve heard it a million times. The pandemic changed the American workplace. Some of those changes persist. In their “The Future of Recruiting 2024” Report, LinkedIn noted: “Recruiting pros whose companies require employees to be fully or mostly in-office report negative impacts on their recruiting efforts, including reduced talent pools, fewer applicants, and increased competition. In comparison, companies who allow employees to choose their work location see a positive impact on recruiting.”

The way LinkedIn interprets this data is that flexible work environments allow a greater number of applicants (representing a diverse range of skills and experiences) to view and respond to their calls for employment.

Jobvite, by Employ, also released a report that speaks to what applicants are looking for in a role. “Beyond compensation, active job seekers are primarily motivated by career advancement (52%) and greater work flexibility or remote work opportunities (49%). Company culture (31%) and better company leadership (31%) also rank high in importance to candidates.”

In fact, the very way in which companies are using job descriptions to hire is changing. “As new technologies disrupt processes and require new skills,” says Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez in the Harvard Business Review, “and as companies are moving toward more and more project-based work, we are beginning to see the evolution of job descriptions away from static, holistic prescriptions that follow an employee for years to dynamic guidance that changes based on needs.”

The three approaches Nieto-Rodriguez talks about in his article are:

1. Outcome-focused role descriptions
2. Skills-focused role descriptions
3. Team-based role descriptions

One reason these types of descriptions are taking hold is that “Rigid job descriptions also discourage experimentation with new technologies that may have been unimaginable at the time the description was written.”

Skills-based hiring was something that stood out to me in LinkedIn’s “The Future of Recruiting 2024” Report, as well. “By not focusing solely on pedigree, companies are able to widen their talent pools and find qualified workers who they may have missed in the past.”

TALKIN’ ‘BOUT MY GENERATION

The Longitudinal Survey of Youth mentioned above obviously pertains to the Baby Boomer generation, more specifically a certain age subset of Boomers. But the market is not only made up of Boomers. Far from it.

There’s Gen X. According to a post by Marsh McLennan Agency, several important historical realities have shaped that generation’s personality and thus their employee personalities. For example, as people who reached adolescence during the tech boom and subsequent bust, “This generation witnessed rapid internet growth, helping make them more willing to accept technological changes today.” And yet, as Rebecca M Knight for the BBC found, Gen X “Mid-career workers are facing ageism in the job market.”

There are, of course, millennials, whom Gallup.com nicknamed “The Job-Hopping Generation.” And there’s Gen Z. According to LinkedIn’s 2024 “The Future of Recruiting,” “Gen Z will account for more than a quarter of the global workforce by 2025. But recruiting pros aren’t confident about their ability to attract and retain this newest cohort. In fact, they say it will be one of their biggest challenges in the coming years.”

In a way, we’re just starting to understand what Gen Z applicants are looking for. “Compared to all other generations,” LinkedIn’s report states, “Gen Z is 36% more likely to prioritize advancement opportunities and 34% more likely to prioritize skill-development opportunities.”

This does not mean that those two items are more important to Gen Z than are other things on the wish list. Compensation, balance, and flexibility still ranked as the top employee value propositions (in that order) by all generations on LinkedIn’s chart. It does, however, imply that Gen Z pays attention to advancement and upskilling to a greater extent than their forebears do.

DESCRIBE A JOB DESCRIPTION

Before writing a job description, Maestro recommends asking yourself a few questions, including:

1. What are the key activities that will be done in this job role?
2. What are the key competencies needed to do the key activities in this job role?

The following ingredients are a good way to start writing your JD:

• Job title and location
• Company information
• Responsibilities
  • Job purpose
  • Key accountabilities
• Qualifications
  • Required
  • Preferred
• Salary range and benefits

We implore you to be open and honest in your job descriptions. One of the biggest job-description mistakes Maestro founder Will Fuentes believes execs make is shying away from “calling out activities or responsibilities that are not ‘fun.’” The examples he gives are failing to mention that the account executive you’re hiring will be required to be in office three days a week and skipping over the fact that they will be required to cold call.

JOBS JOBS JOBS

Years ago, I posted this status on Facebook: “Freelance gig descriptions are like: This position is for you if you are a team player, used to write for late-night, have won a Nobel but wake up thinking about selling facial wipes with a fun, sexy voice, don’t CARE for healthCARE. Competitive salary starting at $5k a year (minimum hours not guaranteed). Please share widely!”

I’m kind of over-comparing things to dating profiles—not least because I haven’t been in the dating pool for over two decades now—but a job description warrants this analogy. And in both cases, a bad one can immediately take you out of the running.

But a good one can help broadcast your role to a wide talent pool that represents a range of cohorts, identities, backgrounds, and perspectives—which in turn means a range of skills, ideas, and abilities. Here’s a good way of summing it up by Alexandra Woodford on Insight Global: “By fully optimizing your job postings, you can both boost overall application rates and ensure that the right talent applies.”

We can help you craft your job descriptions! Reach out to mastery@maestrogroup.co to learn more.