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Job Specifications Could Be Costing You More Than You Think The first thing an IT recruiter usually asks for when handling a recruitment exercise for you, is the Job Specification (job spec).
Most HR departments will happily provide details of the job specification to just about anybody that asks.
Some job specifications are better than others and occasionally, there is even a good one that is useful to the recruitment process.
The job description, or "job spec" as it's more commonly known, is the logical starting place for a publication about recruitment, because from here, everything else flows - or doesn't, as we'll see shortly.
Unless the basic duties of a position are accurately defined right at the beginning of the recruitment process, you have little chance of being able to identify your ideal candidate.
You might think that this sounds quite obvious, but having witnessed how many businesses of all types and sizes get this bit wrong, I know that many managers will benefit from learning more about this often misued document.
My usual point of contact when recruiting is with IT Managers, IT Directors, HR Directors, Finance Directors and Managing Directors - depending on the position I am being asked to recruit for.
(International readers, please excuse the use of British titles here - I work predominantly in a UK market place).
From here on in, I will refer to the hiring authority as "manager" - it simplifies things! It's also easier to refer to everybody in the masculine - so please don't be offended when you see me referring to "him" and "he".
A typical scenario that I am faced with when I am contacted by potential client companies, is for the manger concerned to explain the immediate need to me.
I usually ask whether there is a formal job specification or description that I can see - and usually there is at least something to work on.
However, the standard of these documents vary significantly, not only from company to company, but also from manager to manager within the same organisation.
They usually fall into one of a number of categories though;
Formal Corporate Document
These are often lengthy and detailed documents that specify the precise requirements of the individual required to an almost impossible level of detail.
They are often produced by an HR professional, working from a standard corporate template which highlights things under a number of headings like:
Job Requirement - this is usually a three or four line description of the job from the manager's perspective.
Reason For Hire - fairly self-explanatory and really for internal purposes within larger organisations.
Experience Profile - specifies the number of years experience required in what types of industry.
Qualifications - Specifies the minimum educational standard required for consideration.
There are many other headings and sub-headings that are added, but these are the most commonly used ones.
Informal Specification
This is common where a manager has immediate authority to recruit and makes a note of the role and attempts to identify the "ideal profile" in terms of experience required, qualifications and personality type.
These vary in content depending on the individual manager concerned.
Such job descriptions are generally quite short - ideal for emailing or faxing to recruiters or for posting on internal notice boards.
We will dicuss the informal specification in more detail later.
Casual Specification
Some managers don't write anything down. It could be a lack of time - maybe he has just had a resignation - but whatever the reason, these managers will usually wait for a recruiter to call and then relay his brief requirement over the telephone.
The difficulty with this is that after a few calls from different recruiters on the same day, the manager tires of providing the same information verbally time after time.
The specification given the the last caller often varies significantly from that provided to the first caller.
(That's one of the reasons that I prefer to be called by my clients, rather than hindering them with endless and pointless canvass calls).
From my experience, dealing directly with the short of time manager without the aid of a formal document is my preferred method - provided of course, that the manager concerned does in fact have the hiring authority and can actually spare the time to allow me to analyse the precise requirement.
This is not always the case.
Some managers are more empowered than others to make hiring decisions, but usually, there are at least two people involved and this is where things can get complicated, particularly if those two individuals work in different departments.
For example, an IT Manager might know exactly the job he wants doing in his department and has a picture of his "ideal" candidate in mind.
However, in order to recruit somebody, the IT Manager needs to seek approval from the HR Manager - who will of course look at things from an HR perspective, rather than an IT perspective.
Of course, in order to make sure that the ideal candidate is recruited, a more formal document needs to be prepared that covers the needs of the IT Manager and of course, of the wider "company" needs.
Even in the simplest of situations, it is almost certain that somewhere along the line a compromise will have to be made - and this in itself can cause some problems - unless they are handled correctly at the beginning of the recruitment exercise.
However, the casual approach, even when there is more than one person involved in recruiting, still leads to more effective recruiting in certain circumstances which will become apparent as we go along.
As a professional recruiter, it is easy for me to accurately define a client's needs, no matter what the position, no matter how technical and no matter what industry I am recruiting for - because I know what questions to ask my clients in the early stages.
It becomes second nature after 18 years!
For the new manager or for a manager new to recruiting, this is not so easy and is why HR Departments and external recruiters can be so useful.
It's also why HR Departments and external recruiters can also ensure failure!
Let's take a closer look at the issues we have already discussed.
Formal Job Specifications
The larger the company, the more likely it is that a formal document will be used. Government departments and local authorities use these extensively in an attempt to standardise their recruitment processes and to ensure that they are being fair to all candidates.
Often though, larger comanies and particularly local authorities, can lose sight of the original goal. The job specification becomes an exercise in political correctness and legalese - with the actual content of the job coming way down the list of priorites.
In some cases though, the formal specification can be a useful tool in the initial selection process, but it really should only ever be used as an internal document and never supplied in whole to a third party recruiter.
The trouble with the formal specification is simply that it is often seen as a rigid document. There's just no room for movement.
Personally, I tend to disregard these documents in favour of a forthright discussion with the client where the actual things required to recruit the ideal candidate can be addressed.
Almost without exception, I am able to read back to them a completely different specification based on what their actual business requirement is - not on what somebody's idealistic view is.
See Sample IT Job Specifications - Click Here
This is super-efficient and leads to me being able to fill the more difficult positions far more successfully than my competitors - of which there are tens of thousands!
It also keeps my clients coming back to me time and time again.
Of course, as a manager, (certainly in a larger company), you need to know the guidelines and some formality is therefore essential - as I said earlier, keep the formal specification for internal reference only , but don't treat it as being "cast in stone", unless you are recruiting in a market where you are able to attract virtually unlimited applications from which to choose your ideal.
The informal document prepared by the hiring manager is often more useful than the formal corporate specification because it's more likely to represent the needs of the manager and therefore the department.
Again though, this is best kept as an internal document rather then being used to brief third party recruiters or as a the basis for advertising.
Because it's been prepared by the line manager, it is likely to concentrate solely on the immediate need, rather than including the "bigger picture" items.
In short, I do not believe that it is possible to successfully recruit from a job specification alone - though judging by the massive duplication of positions advertised on Internet job boards and in those awful agency list advertisements, some people wouldn't agree!
It needs human intervention to recruit efficiently - and ideally, third party involvement - whether from a pro-active HR department or an independent recruiter.
Personally, I have yet to see the perfect job description or specification and doubt whether such a document exists in any organisation, though many people claim that they have got it right.
The reality is that recruitment is a subjective process - and because it involves people rather than equipment, there are simply too many variables to upset the process along the way.
If you are going to use a formal or semi-formal document, I strongly suggest that you prepare it by answering these questions - and these questions alone!
What is the title of the position you are recruiting for?
The reason I suggest that you only use these questions as the basis for your specification is simply that it helps you to focus on the absolute essentials.
You really don't need to complicate things by adding extra parameters like educational qualifications, minimum number of years in the job and other stuff that will simply restrict the number of candidates you get to see.
What do you plan to do with your job specification?
Who will get to see it?
Is it a briefing document for an advertising agency or recruiter?
Or is it just for your own use?
The answer to these questions should give you an indication as to how detailed your specification needs to be.
There is a better way to prepare a job specification and that is with external help. An "outsider" with a solid background in recruitment and experience of a wide range of commercial situations can often identify issues that you might not have thought about.
Proactively involving your recruiter in preparing the job specification will increase your recruitment efficiency beyond your wildest expectations.
When I consult with my own clients, they are often amazed at how simple it then becomes to identify the ideal candidate.
This in turn reduces the overall time scales, saves them the trouble of having to go out to the general agency market and avoids all of the usual frustrations that are so often experienced when attempting to recruit IT personnel.
Isn't it time that you took measures to make recruitment easier for you and your managers?
Try it once and the chances are that you will never do it the hard way again.
Call me, David Carter on 0121 764 4717 between 8:00 a.m. and 6p.m. weekdays and I will personally show you how to dramatically increase your IT recruiting efficiency - without the normal complications.
Free Offer For End-User Employers Of I.T. Personnel If you have an end-user IT vacancy at any level and would like help in defining the role more accurately, perhaps more simply, please use the form below to request this free service.
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