For Managers: Do You Have a Wreck or a Req? Part 2
For Managers Mostly: Req or Wreck? Part 2
By Miki Saxon
Approval processes and physical formats for requisition/job descriptions (reqs) may come and go, but without good content you have a wreck—not a req.
We developed the following list is to encourage (force) managers to think, really think, not only about the skills and experience they need, but also the MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™ that would be most productive in their environment.
With slight tweaking, it also works for candidates who want a better way to pin down what they’re really looking for in an opportunity. They can call it “The 12 Ingredients of a Req I Want to Fill.”
6 More Ingredients of a Fillable Req©
7. Interdepartmental interaction – In today’s environment, no department can successfully function completely on its own, so it’s crucial to know how these crossings affect the position and to have agreement among all managers, direct and matrixed, as to the skills and personality needed.
8. Other managers/people to interview – Beyond the people on the team, in the department, and in direct contact with the position, there may be others involved in interviewing for a given job. Whoever they are, and for whatever reason they are included, they must understand exactly what is in the req or they’ll be unable to contribute effectively to the project. The only thing more frustrating than being an interviewer with little to no understanding of the req is being the interviewee.
9. Trade-offs – There are trade-offs in any req and it’s important to think them through ahead of time. The most fillable req is the one with the fewest absolutes. No matter how good current skills are, we live in a world that is constantly and speedily changing, so the ability to learn and be flexible and eager to incorporate new ideas or technology is a valuable asset.
Education is always a sticky subject. What does the person really need? Experts say that at least 20% of what’s learned in school becomes obsolete each year. The true value of education is learning how to think and find information; this is especially true in technical fields. Does a name school really guarantee a person is smart? Work to keep education in perspective—the more time has passed the less weight it should carry in the decision.
10. Reality check – A good yardstick in assessing your req is whether you yourself would have wanted the job (making allowances for the difference between then and today) at the corresponding point in your own career. If not, why not? Consider the job market, your company’s reputation, the work itself. Be honest! It’s far more realistic to offer a person a step up then expect her to make a lateral move. People change for many reasons and money is rarely number one. (If it is, remember that if you can buy the candidate so can someone else!)
11. Experience – The reason this is at the end of the list—instead of number one where most managers put it—is that knowing all of the information above allows you to be both more specific about the experience needed as well as more creative about how to get it—where, other than by following a direct path, can you find the person you need?
12. Minimum needs – The final and most critical point, not only in the req but also in all of hiring, is, what are the absolute minimum requirements, from skills to personality, needed for the job? The reason it’s so important to boil down all your previous work to this level is that you should hire the first person you interview who meets the minimum—not the person who exceeds the wish list in two areas and falls short in another, but the person who meets all the minimum requirements! This means the same requirements that you thought through carefully and dispassionately.
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