This summer I have been working as an HR intern for a company called Vooks. They are based out of Portland and they specialize in creating video versions of children’s books to enhance learning. One of my main assignments for this job has been to go through all of their job postings and make them all standardized and appropriate for each job. This has been really interesting because there are so many different positions within this company. It has led me to research was qualifications or skills a person in different fields may have. Job descriptions are incredibly important because it is a representation of what the company is looking for. It is important to use wording that is inclusive and doesn’t turn away potential candidates. According to the paper The Definitive Guide to Recruiting, ” If history is any guide, staffing will become a front-burner issue once the economic upheaval eases” (Fernández-Aráoz, 2009).
Another important aspect that I noticed is the difference between the minimum requirements on job postings verses the preferred skills. Companies need to decide what is the hard cut off point for a certain position. For example, if you are trying to hire a new web designer, you may put that you require at least 4 years or more of experience. This would immediately turn away all applicants without that experience. As it is explained in the learning materials from this week, how, where, and why we recruit people is just as important as the job itself (Lecture 4: Recruitment). In order to overcome these challenges and issues related to making and maintaining job descriptions, I believe it is important to look at where we are recruiting and what language we are using.
Sources:
Module 3: Lecture 4 Recruitment
Fernández-Aráoz, Claudio. Groysberg, Boris. Nohria, Nitin. (2009)”The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad” The Harvard Business Review. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=faee8686-131a-44d7-9d85-3c8c2fc8830d%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=37840254&db=buh
