Uncover a Customer Touch Point & Be Engaging Too!

For the past year while searching for full time work and consulting assignments,  I've been networking, interviewing and looking at job descriptions.  I've probably read well over 500 descriptions online.  I've read some good ones and I've read some bad ones.  For example, one description called out "looking for awesome people" and I thought how nice.  Everyone who works there must think of themselves as exceptional.  I'd like to be part of that.

Another one stated, in their list of requirements, "must have sense of urgency" and I had to laugh imagining a situation of drinking six cups of coffee and seeking a bathroom. (Better phrasing here might be something like "results driven.")

And although there are plenty, the last example I'll share with you is the company description that announces joyfully, "Hey, leave your coat and tie at home."  But I don't have a tie.  So what is this company implying?

Moral?  If you're hiring take time to stand in your applicants' shoes - be empathetic:

• Read the position description out loud, share it with some outside observers like friends and family to get a non-company perspective
• Test the online application form yourself - not from a standpoint of making it easier, but making it smarter. (Like under address, which state do you think most applicants live in Pennsylvania or Palau?) You'll find items that need improving.  I guarantee it.

Why should you bother?  Your customers and prospects may be applying or have family members and friends that are applying. (Check out Seth Godin's book, Tribes.)  It's a compliment to your company and an opportunity to communicate to and engage an interested audience.

P.S. For an expanded view see Jeremiah Owyang's March 28th post - Evolution of Social Media Integration and Corporate Websites