It starts with the Job Description: Some Best Practices on this Critical First Impression
I speak with clients almost every day who mention that they don’t want to work with a start-up because they aren’t looking to be on the clock 24/7 and logging consistent 70 hour weeks. Those who are getting to the JD, are turning away if they don’t immediately know a few practical things: Salary + Flexibility. If those are answered, then they are diving into the role itself before applying.
I love my job with Hustle Hunters and how I get to highlight growing start-ups who are doing disrupting work while maintaining balance to ensure that their employees are there for the marathon, not just this next sprint.
Here are some tips for utilizing your job descriptions to showcase that you are the type of company that everyone should want to work for:
Salary
Flexibility
People first
Clear role expectations
Background
Include the salary!
You likely have a budget in mind — add this information to show that:
1) you value both your own and potential applicants’s time
2) talent is paid equally regardless of the applicant’s background
Magoosh is a vocal advocate of this practice as part of their larger overall people strategy and has provided some great insights around adding salary ranges to JD’s to hire the best talent here.
Example (Full JD Here):
About the Job
We’re looking for an experienced product manager to help us provide affordable, effective, and enjoyable test prep to even more students across the globe. You’ll drive changes to our technology products, with an initial focus on our SAT and ACT exams, in order to grow our student base, and ultimately help more students achieve their target score.
This position is a full-time, in-office position based in the Magoosh office in Berkeley, CA with an annual salary of $157,500 — $175,000 depending on experience. You must be authorized to work in the US.
Flexibility
Flexibility means something different to everyone, so defining what’s possible within a role is important so that applicants can decide what makes it the best fit for them.
Flexible start-end times: (what hours do employees usually work? Employees on this team? What hours are required? What is possible?)
WFH / Remote: Especially in hiring professional women with 10+ years of experience — this is a deal breaker. Show what you’re ok with, and/or what your teams are currently doing. Example: “We’re looking for someone local but have a flexible WFH policy and most employees WFH every T/Th.”
Vacation / Sickness: Help applicants understand how it will feel to request time off for a vacation, or tell their boss that they have a sick kid.
Fractional + Part-time: We’re open to exploring candidates who are available for a part-time, scaled portion of this positon (example: 60% — working 3 days/week or 5 hours/day; 80%), and would scale and revise the responsibilities and salary accordingly.
Adding flexibility into today’s tech scene is a core part of the Hustle Hunters mission, and we’re eager to assist in getting these written in accordance with your company — so please reach out!
Even a simple line can showcase that your organization is open to viewing success as more than the number of hours someone sits in a chair. Relola adds concise information letting applicants know that their default is being open to flexible roles, denoting specifically which opportunities are only available for a FT hire.
Example (Full JD Here):
We are seeking a highly experienced and creative marketing mind to develop and support an overarching marketing strategy. This position could be part time.
Ava opens most roles up fractionally and includes it in the title of each posting (Full JD Here):
Influencer Relations Specialist — 80%-100% (San Francisco)
People > Policies + Perks
Show that it’s not about the specific list of perks and benefits you’ve brought in, or the beer and kombucha that are on tap — but you’re eager to help them do what they need to do to thrive — and want them to help drive what benefits they’ll get!
Lob’s people process involves trusting employees to be the experts on how they thrive. Learn more here.
Legacy writes this into their JD’s and just reading it surrounds you with a vision of a company that is really out to support your whole being.
Example (Full JD Here):
Benefits
We are nothing more than a series of people working together on exciting challenges, and we invest in the people who work at Legacy.
You will get a competitive salary (especially for an early-stage start-up) and a meaningful equity stake. You get unlimited PTO and are required to take 1-week vacation at least twice a year. We match your 401(k) and have competitive healthcare, dental, and vision.
We will subsidize 75% of an executive coach for you as well as other health and wellness benefits. The default answer to anything that makes your personal or professional life better is ‘YES’.
More importantly, we will be investing in you personally & professionally, and you will have all the autonomy, independence, or collaboration you want — it’s entirely up to you.
The role!
15Five is a continuous performance management suite with a focus on bringing value and direction to the 1:1 meeting for fast moving teams/organizations. As structure and definition around roles and expectations is a core tenant of their organization, we can lean on their expertise in looking at best practices in outlining why you are making this hire and where you’re looking for this person to take the company.
Example (Full JD Here):
DESIRED IMPACT BY 3 MONTHS
Complete 15Five’s new-hire on boarding and job-specific training
Gain clarity on the expectations of your role and understand Best-Self Management
Begin building strong relationships across the organization
Use your prior experience and acquired knowledge of 15Five to propose structural changes aimed at improving efficiency and productivity
Dig deep on the current state of 15Five customers; understand what makes a great customer and what puts customers at risk
DESIRED IMPACT BY 6 MONTHS
Execute upon a strategic hiring plan to support our customers and hit our revenue targets
Implement procedural and structural changes across the department to take our operations to the next level
Drive content development to shore up gaps in customer education and communication
Develop a one and two year vision for the growth and development of the Customer Success team
DESIRED IMPACT BY 12 MONTHS
Demonstrate results across the Customer Success team through reduced churn, increased adoption, increased net promoter score, and increased net revenue retention
Coach team members towards being and becoming their Best Selves
SAMPLE WEEK IN THE LIFE
Monday: Lead new-hire on boarding, participate in daily Support team standup, and develop strategic individual and department OKRs for the upcoming quarter
Tuesday: Spend much of the day syncing with various teams and leaders on collaborative work involving revenue operations, knowledge base, product roadmap, NPS feedback loops, etc. Prepare reporting on KPIs and performance trends.
Wednesday: Attend the Revenue Leadership team meeting before leading your own Success team regroup, followed by supporting with escalations and developing knowledge base content.
Thursday: Circle back on projects with the Sales and Professional Services teams, conduct 1-on-1s with your direct reports, and coordinate weekly skill-up training
Friday: Complete your 15Five, review your direct reports’ 15Fives, and work on strategic projects.
Background
Many people (especially women and underrepresented groups in tech) will not apply for a position unless they meet/exceed every desired qualification. This leads to lots of missed opportunities, especially from talent with non-traditional backgrounds and perspectives, and is one (of many) reasons that the tech industry struggles to build more cohesive and diverse organizations. Binti outlines their desire to bring in the right teammates regardless of their backgrounds on their Careers page.
Things we don’t look for:
Where you went to school
A desire to go out drinking with the team
A specific age range for any position
Previous experience at a tech company (for non-technical roles)
They continue to use broad language that recognizes lived and non-related professional experience as valid in their JD’s as well.
Example (Full JD Here):
Experience & Skills
Two years of professional experience
Excellent analytical skills working with data and excel
Extremely strong verbal and written communications skills
Strong time management and project management skills
Ability to juggle multiple projects at once and manage other team members to contribute what is needed toward a project
High attention to detail
Extremely organized
Self-motivated and able to thrive in a fast-paced, results-driven environment
In summary, if your mission is to attract/support/retain the best people to grow your business — be sure that you job descriptions are making the right first impression and not causing the right candidates (who typically have minimal time to apply to a job search, and specific standards of what they are looking for) to bounce because they can’t find what they are looking for right off the bat. Good luck!
Hustle Hunters is a recruiting and consulting firm focused on flexible work in the Bay Area tech scene, and helping companies to leverage flexibility to attract/support/retain the best talent and do big things together.