Beating The Job Description Dead Horse with Mark Herschberg of The Career Toolkit

Why do I need to waste my time writing a job description? You might ask.

The answer is: To save Time … & be able to Sleep

The Job Description is there to evaluate how successful the person you hired is in the role they were hired for. Consider it the essential evaluation tool to manage expectations... A syllabus for success.

Investing the time up front will allow you to set the performance metrics the person needs to achieve in the critical first 90 days. Thus cementing quantifiable data to ensure a successful hire. 

And that just helps all parties sleep better at night! 

Our guest today: Mark Herschberg, MIT instructor, CTO, & Author of The Career Toolkit 

From tracking criminals and terrorists on the dark web to creating marketplaces and new authentication systems, Mark has spent his career launching and developing new ventures at startups and Fortune 500s and in academia. 

He helped to start the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, dubbed MIT’s “career success accelerator,” where he teaches annually. Mark helped create a platform used to teach finance at prominent business schools. He also works with many non-profits, including Techie Youth and Plant A Million Corals. 

He was one of the top-ranked ballroom dancers in the country and now lives in New York City, where he is known for his social gatherings, including his annual Halloween party, as well as his diverse cufflink collection.

Today we discuss:

• Why Job descriptions are critical to the success of your company
• How to craft job descriptions that positively impact the organization

Challenge today with Job Descriptions?

• Vague
  • Too much redundant information
  • Missing information
  • Break down what the tasks are ie:% of time
• Understanding the skills
  • Defining soft skills
  • Technical knowledge- not digging deeper
• Throwing up barriers
• Unclear job description leads to unclear evaluation of the interviewee

Why is this important to the company?

• We waste a lot of time interviewing the wrong people
• We hire for the wrong reasons
• Breeds a underperforming team
• Infects the culture
• Domino effect downgrading the business
• No compensation for a good teammate

Rick’s Nuggets

• A job description is not a wishlist of skills
• Job description and job advertisement should be the same document

How do we solve the problem?

• • Working backwards 
    • Define the specific attributes that are wanted
    • Uncover the why
    • Similar mentality bread into the person
    • Industry 
  • Write the job description
    • Start with a selling point
    •  
  • Getting everyone on the same page
  • Define the interview questions 
    • uncover how the person fits the company

Rick’s Nuggets

• What’s in it for me? (pain)
• Problems solved 
  • 90 day performance metrics 
  • Includes hard & soft skills 
• About us
• Call to Action
  • Homework before resume submittal

Key Takeaways:

• Step 1 of hiring: define the role, including the qualities you’re looking for, beyond just knowledge and experience
• Step 2: make sure everyone on the hiring team is clear
• Step 3: make sure the questions you ask align to evaluating on what you’re looking for

Links:

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hershey/

Websites: https://www.thecareertoolkitbook.com/media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCareerToolkitBook

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markaherschberg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CareerToolkitBk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecareertoolkit/

 

This show is proudly sponsored by Criteria Crop: https://www.criteriacorp.com/