At ITS Global, we have the privilege of collaborating with leading start-ups. Every client engagement is different, but almost always we find ourselves supporting our clients with crafting precise and alluring job descriptions to attract the best talent. Traditional job descriptions tend to focus on what is required of the prospective candidate; it goes without saying that attracting the best talent necessitates finding candidates with the right skills and expertise.
But what happens when you’re a start-up that changes by the day? Start-ups tend to be dynamic and prone to macro and micro pivots within their business, focusing on improving products and/or service offerings based on how the market responds to their offerings. The start-up entrepreneur will need to surround themselves with employees who have both the technical chops to do the work needed, and the business savvy to know when and how to adjust themselves.
Start-up tech companies need to attract people who will be happy coming into work every day, knowing that the job demands a fluid and business conscious way of thinking. Many companies focus on attracting candidates with the right technical skills and expertise during the sourcing stage and follow up with a series of in-person interviews to determine the ‘cultural fit’ of the candidate. However, you can use your job description to describe your start-ups unique ‘culture.’ By expressing more clearly the right ‘culture fit’ of the candidate, you’ll substantially increase the likelihood of a candidate who is a closer cultural fit to your organization to apply to your open job. The simple act of conveying your company culture in a job description can catch the attention of your next great hire.
What should a job description include?
We encourage our start-up tech clients to include as much detail as possible in their job descriptions. That’s how you help candidates decide if it’s something they really want to pursue. Generally speaking, your job description should include the following:
• Job title
• Location
• Role objectives
• Role responsibilities
• Desired experience
• Compensation/Benefits/Perks
• Work hours, travel requirements
• Company descriptions
Although it’s hard to express your full culture with all of these points, a few of them do present an opportunity to provide a glimpse of your start-up tech culture to the candidate marketplace.
You can use the headings role objectives, role responsibilities, desired experience, and company descriptions as areas where you can highlight your company culture. You can use these headings to describe what your company is striving to accomplish, what a typical day within the organization looks like, what type of leadership or voice this candidate is meant to have and further develop, fringe benefits of working for your company, and other specifics that help sell your company and your culture. By doing this, you’re increasing the chance that someone with these desired character traits will apply to your job opening.
At ITS Global, we specialize in workforce management consulting. Our clients rely on us to effectively implement a talent acquisition program that will allow them to scale their growth and be a success. Let’s meet to discuss further – coffees on us! You can reach out to us at 416-689-4653 or email Ross Cadastre at [email protected] to schedule a confidential free meeting today!