I just read an ad for a sales-related position – it is in the sales category but it is so vaguely written that I cannot decipher what the position entails. The ad discusses what the person will be responsible for managing and some of what they will be doing. It then flows into a bulleted list of requirements that include:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of 12-15 years of business experience
- Minimum of 5-7 years specific experience
- Previous management experience
- A specific certification
I edited out the specific experience in the bullets above. The next piece of the ad is the closing information in great detail. Nothing in the ad describes the company’s view of success in the position or what specific skills lead to that success.
Don’t do this with your employment ads. This ad is the epitome of experience-only hiring. Successful hiring does not have to rely so heavily on chance. There is a process for finding the top candidates.