How to Write Job Requirements to Get a Good Number of Applicants?

By Team Skillconnect360 / May 11th, 2022 / 0 comments / Recruitment, slow hiring, talent acuisition,

Do Your Job Requirements Limit Your Pool of Candidates for No Good Reason? 

Before posting a job opening, think about the job requirements. They tell potential applicants the absolute essentials they need to be considered. By including requirements, like specific skills or years of experience, that aren’t truly necessary, you’re needlessly shrinking the talent pool you’ll have to choose from.  

What is a Job Requirement? 

A job requirement is what’s vital to an employee’s ability to perform a job satisfactorily. They can be knowledge, qualities, abilities, and level of experience. A job requirement can be specific or general and can include a certain level of education, certifications, or general area of knowledge. 

• What are the job’s essential functions? 

• What are the minimum skills, experience, and education needed to perform them? 

Whether a person meets these requirements should be the first hurdle an applicant must overcome. That’s why making sure they’re a good fit for the job is essential. Overly-broad requirements can cause: 

• A candidate search to take longer 
• The position to be open for a greater period of time 
• Driving up the salary 

• Possibly missing a candidate who would’ve been a great fit 

Job requirements are a fence to keep unwanted candidates out. How tall must it be? 

Are Job Requirements Carved in Stone? 

Question every requirement: 

• Do you require a specific college degree? If a candidate had to leave college early because of family or financial problems but has more work experience, would they be considered? 

• Is a period doing some kind of work required for the job? Why is it three years? Might someone with two years of experience in the same area, but at a higher or more sophisticated level, do the job well? 

Many employers mistakenly use a job description written in the past, with the same job requirements, whenever there’s an opening. They don’t look at it to see if the work’s changed over the years and whether job requirements written, say eight years ago, are still appropriate. Technology and how businesses function aren’t what they were eight years ago. 

Your firm may also have set higher standards in the past because more people were looking for work. A reason to consider changing requirements is it’s too difficult to find people who meet them. You may be willing to lower the requirements and do some on-the-job training to fill the role faster.  

The resources spent getting a good candidate “up to speed” may be less than the cost of a position being open longer plus a higher salary of someone with better qualifications. 

You Want the Right Person for the Job. Do the Job Requirements Describe That Person? 

Write job requirements narrowly because they’re shutting the door on candidates. You should include the qualities, education, and experience you want to see in an applicant, but be flexible when screening applicants.  

The right person for you is out there. Try not to create unnecessary job requirements that screen them out early in the process, never to be heard from again. 

Take the Next Step. Contact Skill Connect 360 

Skill Connect can help you attract the right job candidates to help your business grow. We will work with you to craft an accurate job description with job requirements that describe a qualified candidate. Call us today at 212-507-9350 or fill out our contact form so we can start the conversation.