In my current job one of my responsibilities is to oversee hiring. This includes creating and managing the job postings. Initially this task sounded easy, but overtime it has become increasingly challenging. The cookie-cutter or AI generated job description just doesn’t cut it. One reason for this is that it doesn’t capture the heart of what we are looking for in our employees. We want employees that are eager to learn and want to work as a team. We don’t just want someone with the skills to succeed, we need people that will reflect and improve our company culture. Additionally, jobs are changing constantly. As technology, departments, vendors, and company priorities change, the tasks assigned to each person change. Even if we could keep a detailed job posting updated constantly, you wouldn’t be able to guarantee potential candidates that that is always what their job will look like. You have to be upfront about the potential for change.

Another challenge with developing job descriptions is that they are designed to put people in a box, to summarize the core responsibilities of a job into a check list to be marked off. One philosophy that has really benefitted the company I work for is the idea that every employee has the potential to be successful, you just have to find the right role. For example, the company prioritizes giving opportunity to people with disabilities, to non-English speakers, and to refugees. It is hard to describe what the job will be because in many ways we tailer the job to the strengths of the employee.