How to Write Job Advertisements as a Founder
Hiring your first few employees can be a daunting task especially in such a competitive marketplace. So when composing your job ad, you want to make it as compelling and appealing as possible. Here are my 6 top tips on how to do just that.
1 Think about what skills you need
It sounds incredibly obvious but it is commonly overlooked, people tend to go straight to job titles, so make sure you take the time to consider the skills your business requires. Examine what you will need now and what you will likely need in the next six months. List them out even if you know there are too many this will help you think about your workforce planning for the future. Don’t think about job titles just yet.
2 Research the market
Once you have identified the skills that you need research those skills and the potential job titles that match them. Talk to fellow founders or people in the industry to get an understanding of how long these skills have been around for and what work history these people have, it may be possible to find someone in another field who is interested in pivoting their career. You don’t want to be the person that advertises for 10 years experience with React.js when React was only first released five years ago; I am not kidding I have seen it. Look at sites like angel.co, seek.com.au, jora.com.au to get an understanding of the market, this will help you craft a job title that correctly matches your skills set and isn’t confusing for candidates. It is especially important if you plan on posting your role on a primary site like Seek as it will assist in improving the visibility of your job to the correct candidates. You will also want to get an idea of what these skills are commanding regarding remuneration. Sites like https://au.indeed.com and www.glassdoor.com.au can be great for getting an idea of salaries. Also observe how many open positions there are, this will help give you a timeframe as to how long it may take to fill the role. If there are lots of vacant jobs that aren’t being filled, then you know that this is a competitive skill set you are going after.
3 Think about what you can afford
We all want everyone we hire to be as passionate about our startup or new business as we are but be realistic with what you are offering. Offering competitive remuneration will make your employees feel motivated and valued right from the start. It will also mean that they will be less likely to leave or be poached by a competitor. Establish a clear idea of your budget for each role at this point it doesn’t need to be based on your market research purely on cash flow and what you can afford.
4 Compromise
Now you know the skills that you want and the budget available to you it’s time to compromise. I often think of this the same way I think about building an MVP. You have your list of skills, and these are similar to your features. You also have your budget which is similar to your sprint or iteration cycle, and this constrains the number of skills or the depth of knowledge that you can afford in these areas. If you need a Product Manager but only have a 50K budget think about creative ways that you can entice someone. Equity is a standard option, but it’s not always captivating when you are early on. Instead, focus on the possibility of bringing on contractors for a shorter period to help get you started in the right direction and work with them on capability training of your existing team. Look at offering graduate roles if this would work with your current workforce, or if you need someone more skilled offer a part-time role on a pro rata salary. It can be very appealing to parents returning to the workforce or people who are looking for better work-life balance.
The most significant mistake I see founders making is with mismatched exceptions in their job advertisement. If you list 15 must have skills but are only paying an entry-level salary, you will confuse potential candidates. It will make you look like you don’t know what you want and or have a poor understanding of the area and put candidates off applying for your role.
5 Money isn’t everything
While it is crucial that you are offering remuneration in line with your expectations of the position skilled individuals also want a great place to work. Ensure that you mention your culture and values, beer and ping pong don’t count. Speak about things that you are offering that other businesses aren’t able to such as career progression, mentorship or flexible working but ensure that you can demonstrate your commitment to these when a potential candidate asks.
6 Check your biases
You may not realise, but you put you unconscious biases into your job advertisements. Avoid any mention of gender instead of he or she use they or you since not everyone identifies as male or female. Other phrases to axe are ninja, guru, rockstar, gun, expert, competitive and “work hard play hard” just to mention a few. These phrases are off-putting to many groups especially women and parents. You are also more likely to attract specific personality types rather than a range of personalities. Use tools like https://textio.com to assist you in checking for these issues.
Conclusion
Now that you have established the critical components of your advertisement you can start putting it all together. Start with a compelling and friendly introduction to what problem your business is solving. Then you can move onto describing what the role will involve and who they would be working alongside. Next, speak about the experience and skills that you are looking for, don’t go overboard and avoid being too specific. You might not necessarily need someone who has experience with a particular language or tool but a demonstrated ability to learn it, for example, someone with a sound understanding of Javascript would be able to pick up React or Angular even if they have not used it before. Finish you position advertisement by speaking about the application process and mention your values or any relevant awards of achievements regarding your people and culture.
Rhombico empowers founders to build manage and lead diverse and inclusive teams. Sign up for our product waitlist at http://rhombico.com
