Writing a job advert

How many times as a hiring manager have you engaged in to recruiting a new employee – most organisations have some form of HR process which you must adhere to and typically this means liaising with HR to draw up a job description and a job advert to advertise externally. As you are busy you arrange a meeting to talk through the role with a HR representative and leave them to write the JD and an advert. Often this is a mistake, after all you are the one who knows what you need and leaving your description open to interpretation from the HR person can lead to old job descriptions being reworded (sometimes not even that) or a JD being written by someone who is unsure what the role really is.

Writing a job description is good practice for you to really prioritise your wish list and give a little background to the team and department the new employee will be working in. Once you have written the document you need to think about how to take the core competencies and write them into an advert which will attract applications. No matter how difficult the role may be to fill due to constraints such as budgets you can still attract good strong candidates with the right kind of information.

In project management recruitment it can be the case that a well experienced project professional is required to join a project or programme at a crucial point, the salary offering is below market rate for someone with so much experience but none the less your needs are just that. So making the advert as attractive as possible is key to drawing in interest.

Not all project professionals are gunning after the big ££’s – in fact in my experience most are after a gripping challenge and looking to expand their experience. Therefore giving information about the challenges and why you need the more experienced candidate is not off-putting (if it is to some, then you don’t want them on board anyway), it can be the reason for applications. Something experienced project professionals gain from joining a challenging environment is further experience but also they just love to rise to the challenge and are not fazed by failing projects – they take pride in bringing projects back into scope.

A big mistake when writing job adverts is to not give any real detail about the projects to be worked on – now I know some pieces of work are sensitive and so you cannot name them but giving an idea of the type of project in context will help you gain applications from candidates with the right backgrounds.

For example here is a small piece which can introduce the role in a nutshell:

An experienced project support professional with a background in PMO and exposure to supporting circa 10 concurrent projects with interdependencies and good knowledge of manufacturing required to join a small established team to deliver a variety of business change projects ranging from new system roll outs to cultural change initiatives.

This can then lead into a little about the business and the challenges it currently faces such as; globally dispersed teams, cultural challenges, adversity to change etc. Then lead into the core competencies required such as; risk & issue management, planning, reporting, workshops, coaching etc. Finally talk through the advantages of joining such a team, talk through the maturity level of the PMO and how you envisage this person to help drive forward practices and really be a part of the organisation.

By writing a generic but informative advert you will not only hit keywords for those searching online for new roles, but also avoid dozens (if not hundreds) of applications from those who are not suitable for the role. Of course you will always get a few applications from unsuitable candidates (unfortunately I have yet to find a way to stop this completely) but on the whole you will be attracting the right calibre of candidate.

5 Tips to Help You Stand Out In An Interview

After all the hard work you put into making your CV stand out and impressing an employer with your application form, it’s the best feeling in the world when they want to meet you in person for an interview. But now is not the time to relax, this is where the hard work really starts. Now it’s time to really sell yourself and stand out from the other 10 or 15 people they may be interviewing! Here are a few tips to help you do that:

  • First impressions count – It takes between 5 and 30 seconds for a person to make their judgement about you, and once they’ve made their assumptions it’s very hard to change their mind! So it’s really important to create the right first impression in an interview. Obviously the way you dress will be one of the first things they notice about you so keep it smart and well-groomed, and avoid too much jewellery or excessive perfume/aftershave. If you’re not used to wearing smart clothes wear them in the house a couple of times to get used to them and ensure you feel confident and comfortable. Carry yourself confidently, head up, shoulders back and offer a firm, confident hand-shake!
  • Speak slowly and clearly – It’s perfectly natural to be nervous in an interview but there are ways you can ease your nerves and appear more confident. Speak slowly and clearly, there may be one interviewer asking the questions and another one recording your answers so think before you speak and don’t talk too fast! If English isn’t your first language you may want to consider taking a course to improve your conversational skills. Most cities in the UK have a language school. Taking English Courses in Manchester, London, and Birmingham etc is useful as larger cities provide more opportunities to practice your conversational skills.
  • Being preparedResearch the company – Every company worth working for will have a website, so use it! Look for key information such as the roots of the company, any future visions they have, their ethics and morals etc. If there’s not enough on the website then it’s a good idea to give them a call or visit their premises to ask a few questions. It’s good practice to structure your research as a SWOT report: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Look at what the company does well already, areas they could potentially improve on, what’s happening in the industry that could provide good opportunities, and any external threats from competitors or the economy.
  • Preparation is key – There are certain interview questions that always get asked, such as “Why do you feel you’re right for the position?” and “Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?” So prepare some answers to several commonly asked questions and you’ll feel more confident when these questions arise. Try to think of several situational stories/anecdotes that demonstrate your skills, for example if you’re asked about a time when you gave great customer service, be specific, talk about specific situations and customers. Make sure you know what the job description and person specification are for the role and answer questions accordingly to demonstrate how you meet the employer’s needs.
  • Ending on a good note – Make sure you’ve prepared 2 or 3 questions to ask the interviewer at the end of the interview. Try asking them things like “What does your training plan offer?” or “How much scope is there for personal development?” Questions like this show that you’re interested in the company and a long-term future with them. It’s also good practice to thank the interviewer for their time, perhaps followed up by an email the following day. Little touches like this may make you stand out more than other candidates.

Understanding who reviews your CV

When applying for jobs it can often feel like your CV disappears into the abyss – rarely receiving any replies, occasionally receiving the automatically generated response, and you are often left wondering whether your application was read. Chasing after feedback can be just as frustrating, if you can actually get through to the relevant party to discuss your application – often being fobbed off with generic responses such as “we have over XXX applications for this role so we cannot provide individual feedback” or worst still, a response telling you that your CV is fine (because they are too busy to bother spending 5 minutes to talk through details.

So understanding where your CV might end up when you apply for a job is a good starting point to enable you to make more informed decisions about structuring your CV and about where you might concentrate your applications.

  • CV sifters – this is becoming a popular and cost effective way for organisations to manage applications, taking out the recruitment element and fees. Companies specialise in taking bulk loads of CVs and sorting through to produce a shortlist of applications. Some are specialised in particular career fields but a lot are generalists and will work to a guide provided by the hiring manager. This works in respect of a popular job in that it sorts out all the relevant CVs (believe me, no matter how good the job advert, you will always get random applications from completely irrelevant job seekers), however if the sifters are not specialised and your CV reads in a technical or role specific terminology then you may find your application being put in the recycle bin.
  • Who reviews your CVRecruiters often generalist recruiters tend to work on a pepper gun approach, taking a group of CVs which “appear” to match the job and sending them all to the employers. Similar to the sifters, this can generate a misleading hope (if they tell you they are sending your CV to the client) as you will probably be in a batch of 20/30 CVs. If the recruiter is working on dozens of jobs then it is fair to say they may not have spent a great deal of time reviewing and matching up CVs specific to the role. Not always the case but worth bearing in mind if you are wondering why you haven’t heard back or if you have been rejected post submission to the employer.
  • Specialist recruiters these are the people you put a lot of faith in, they should know their game and in an ideal world have actually performed the roles prior to specialising in recruiting for them. As fees tend to be higher for these agencies, the employer expects to see a condensed shortlist of CVs which bear a close match to the position. This can mean a greater chance of interview should you be chosen for the shortlist but can also mean it is much more difficult to get into the shortlist in the first place.
  • HR staff instructed by hiring managers to run a recruitment drive for a role, some HR staff are fantastic and really ask the right questions of the hiring manager and research the role, others take a less formal approach and create a list of “must haves” and use these to tick off when reviewing CVs. Remember that this tick list is most probably used by most reviewers to a point so it is important that your CV states are the things you have done which are relevant to the role.

The lesson to be learned from all the above is to ensure your CV is clear, do not assume because you have a job title of XYZ that you automatically have experience of ABC. Making assumptions and not spelling it out is the first step to failing to get past the reviewer on your job search journey.