Better job postings attract better (and more) applicants

Gregory Childers

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  • Oct 22, 2019
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    I see lots of job postings both here and on other job websites. Unfortunately, many recruiters have highly unrealistic expectations and then wonder why they don't get a lot of quality applicants. Here are some of the common issues I see and how they could be improved.

    Many jobs posted as "entry level" aren't really entry level. They require advanced degrees such as Masters Degrees, multiple certifications such as CASP+/CISSP/CISM, several years of experience with cloud/cybersecurity/programming/infrastructure/risk management, That is not entry level. That is advanced level. People with that complete list of qualifications will not apply for your "entry level" position. Masters Degrees should only be required for mid to upper management level positions. CASP+/CISSP/CISM are advanced certifications. If you want entry level, Security+ should be the most advanced certification you recommend (not require).

    Most jobs do not list salary ranges, and then they require applicants to go through multiple rounds of interviews. There is nothing more frustrating for job applicants and recruiters than to schedule a series of interviews with different stakeholders over the course of several weeks only to discover the position pays significantly less than the amount the applicant is seeking. No offense, but I"m 52 years old with 30+ years of experience so I don't want your $30K per year job. Start with four times that amount and I might be interested. Recruiters should do themselves and the applicants a huge favor. List the salary range. If you don't get a large pool of applicants, look at both the salary range and the requirements. You may not be aligned with industry trends.

    Some industries just don't understand the marketplace. High schools, colleges, and government typically pay a tiny fraction of the rate that the open market and public/private companies pay. Why would you want to teach at a high school for $40K or to teach at a college for $66K when you can teach corporate customers for $90K or more? If you're offering less than $100K for someone with a Masters Degree in a technical field, such as cybersecurity, the good applicants will find employment elsewhere. Do your research to find out what a Python developer with seven years experience makes. Or what the average CySA+ or PenTest+ certification holder makes. There are plenty of online resources for researching salaries.

    Many jobs are nothing more than side hustles. Lots of jobs are part-time or term contract work. I worked as an independent contractor for 12 years. It's inconsistent work at best, there are no benefits whatsoever, and you are responsible for your own taxes, and it required constant travel. I was on the road 5 days per week for 45 weeks per year. That's exhausting work for a lower quality of life. Part-time work is an option only if you already have a full time job with a very flexible schedule, which means you won't get many applicants for classes taught every Tuesday during the day for ten weeks. Consider creating full-time salaried positions.

    Many jobs offer the bare minimum in benefits packages. Two weeks per year of time off? Thanks but no thanks. Try starting with three or four weeks. Medical/dental/vision plans should be reasonable and affordable. 401k options should include company matching. Incentive-based bonus structures are welcomed. Offer comprehensive onboarding and career development options. The more you invest in your employees, the more likely they are to be productive and to remain loyal.

    Many jobs require working onsite or hybrid work. That eliminates countless highly qualified fully remote applicants from the potential job pool. The vast majority of tech work, especially training and education, can be done 100% remotely. My wife and I moved to the Tampa Bay, Florida area last year and we have no intentions of moving elsewhere. Quality of life matters with today's job seekers. If the job can be done remotely, list it as a remote position. Occasional travel is fine, but remote workers are more productive because they don't waste countless hours commuting. And you save a lot of money on office rentals, supplies, utilities, taxes, etc.

    For applicants, pay attention to the language in the job listings. Also pay attention to the hiring process. If an organization has unrealistic expectations in the hiring process, they most likely have unrealistic expectations every day at work.
     
    agent_b_point.png

    I don't know how many times I've talked to HR people who have no idea how to hire IT people. Perhaps it's that idea that we're still people that "fix desktop" computers, which is thinking from the year 2000. Sadly, many of us undersell ourselves in the marketplace but there will be someone out there that will take the lower money, so the crappy job offerings keep showing up.

    But I have to say something that Greg missed on his otherwise awesome post is that when IT steps into the cyber arena, they go in knowing that they could be jumping into a firestorm. The first time a real cyber incident kicks off, it's going to be the "cybersecurity expert that we just hired" that's going to be the sacrificial lamb. The person was hired to protect us from all cyber threats, blah blah - so when something does happen, there's a scapegoat - who may have some personal legal ramifications. That should, alone, command a substantial salary bump. Otherwise, is it really worth the pain of going through thousands of lines in a CSV file to look for that one breach, just to get paid $22/hr, just because a little more was worth it?

    This is a topic that begs me to roll out my ginormous soap box and pound the pulpit harder than an old school fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher on a hot summer day. But Greg's already preached the sermon for me.

    Now the other side of the equation has to do with two categories of people, those who are getting into the field, and those who are older and fighting age-ism. The juicy job offerings aren't there, so they take what they can get until something else comes along that's better. Maybe they stop looking because it's easier to just sit in an office making $75k rather than going out and getting that $100k job. Maybe folks get tired of chewing the leather for a few extra bucks.

    It's a massive dynamic that's been around since ancient times, actually.

    /r
     
    I see lots of job postings both here and on other job websites. Unfortunately, many recruiters have highly unrealistic expectations and then wonder why they don't get a lot of quality applicants. Here are some of the common issues I see and how they could be improved.

    Many jobs posted as "entry level" aren't really entry level. They require advanced degrees such as Masters Degrees, multiple certifications such as CASP+/CISSP/CISM, several years of experience with cloud/cybersecurity/programming/infrastructure/risk management, That is not entry level. That is advanced level. People with that complete list of qualifications will not apply for your "entry level" position. Masters Degrees should only be required for mid to upper management level positions. CASP+/CISSP/CISM are advanced certifications. If you want entry level, Security+ should be the most advanced certification you recommend (not require).

    Most jobs do not list salary ranges, and then they require applicants to go through multiple rounds of interviews. There is nothing more frustrating for job applicants and recruiters than to schedule a series of interviews with different stakeholders over the course of several weeks only to discover the position pays significantly less than the amount the applicant is seeking. No offense, but I"m 52 years old with 30+ years of experience so I don't want your $30K per year job. Start with four times that amount and I might be interested. Recruiters should do themselves and the applicants a huge favor. List the salary range. If you don't get a large pool of applicants, look at both the salary range and the requirements. You may not be aligned with industry trends.

    Some industries just don't understand the marketplace. High schools, colleges, and government typically pay a tiny fraction of the rate that the open market and public/private companies pay. Why would you want to teach at a high school for $40K or to teach at a college for $66K when you can teach corporate customers for $90K or more? If you're offering less than $100K for someone with a Masters Degree in a technical field, such as cybersecurity, the good applicants will find employment elsewhere. Do your research to find out what a Python developer with seven years experience makes. Or what the average CySA+ or PenTest+ certification holder makes. There are plenty of online resources for researching salaries.

    Many jobs are nothing more than side hustles. Lots of jobs are part-time or term contract work. I worked as an independent contractor for 12 years. It's inconsistent work at best, there are no benefits whatsoever, and you are responsible for your own taxes, and it required constant travel. I was on the road 5 days per week for 45 weeks per year. That's exhausting work for a lower quality of life. Part-time work is an option only if you already have a full time job with a very flexible schedule, which means you won't get many applicants for classes taught every Tuesday during the day for ten weeks. Consider creating full-time salaried positions.

    Many jobs offer the bare minimum in benefits packages. Two weeks per year of time off? Thanks but no thanks. Try starting with three or four weeks. Medical/dental/vision plans should be reasonable and affordable. 401k options should include company matching. Incentive-based bonus structures are welcomed. Offer comprehensive onboarding and career development options. The more you invest in your employees, the more likely they are to be productive and to remain loyal.

    Many jobs require working onsite or hybrid work. That eliminates countless highly qualified fully remote applicants from the potential job pool. The vast majority of tech work, especially training and education, can be done 100% remotely. My wife and I moved to the Tampa Bay, Florida area last year and we have no intentions of moving elsewhere. Quality of life matters with today's job seekers. If the job can be done remotely, list it as a remote position. Occasional travel is fine, but remote workers are more productive because they don't waste countless hours commuting. And you save a lot of money on office rentals, supplies, utilities, taxes, etc.

    For applicants, pay attention to the language in the job listings. Also pay attention to the hiring process. If an organization has unrealistic expectations in the hiring process, they most likely have unrealistic expectations every day at work.
    I’m currently facing something worse, a company asked me to review content for A+ course based on had written agreement , then all of a sudden she told me no need for my service and asked me to submit my timeshare for payment , I’m emailing her and her team but they don’t respond , it seems it’s a fraud or maybe they don’t want to pay. Very sad and disrespectful.
     
    I’m currently facing something worse, a company asked me to review content for A+ course based on had written agreement , then all of a sudden she told me no need for my service and asked me to submit my timeshare for payment , I’m emailing her and her team but they don’t respond , it seems it’s a fraud or maybe they don’t want to pay. Very sad and disrespectful.
    That is another reason why I no longer work as an independent contractor. There are clients who will rip you off.

    I contracted for two separate 3-week assignments for a training company in California. I was living in Tennessee at the time. I maxed out my travel credit card to pay for two round trip plane tickets, six weeks in a hotel, six weeks usage of a rental car, and meals and other expenses. They paid me nothing. Not a dime. At the end of it, I had a maxed out credit card and no income for six weeks. I contacted a lawyer to attempt to recoup the money in court but before I could do anything, the company shut down and reopened under a different name. The lawyer told me I had no recourse in the courts because my contract was with the company that had closed.

    The only way to limit risk in cases like that is to have the client prepay for all expenses or pay half the agreed fees up front. If they refuse, don't take the assignment. I've been burned too many times and no longer trust companies to honor their agreements.
     
    That is another reason why I no longer work as an independent contractor. There are clients who will rip you off.

    I contracted for two separate 3-week assignments for a training company in California. I was living in Tennessee at the time. I maxed out my travel credit card to pay for two round trip plane tickets, six weeks in a hotel, six weeks usage of a rental car, and meals and other expenses. They paid me nothing. Not a dime. At the end of it, I had a maxed out credit card and no income for six weeks. I contacted a lawyer to attempt to recoup the money in court but before I could do anything, the company shut down and reopened under a different name. The lawyer told me I had no recourse in the courts because my contract was with the company that had closed.

    The only way to limit risk in cases like that is to have the client prepay for all expenses or pay half the agreed fees up front. If they refuse, don't take the assignment. I've been burned too many times and no longer trust companies to honor their agreements.
    I can’t imagine that could happen to the people who teach and educate others.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Mikini N. Williams
    I can’t imagine that could happen to the people who teach and educate others.
    Unfortunately, there are many unreliable clients out there. I was teaching a class for a Fortune 500 Pharmaceutical company one time. The class went great. The students evaluations were stellar. A month later, the client complains that there were reports that I was using inappropriate language during the class. They could cite no specific examples, and the evaluations from class never mentioned it. They mentioned these complaints for the very first time when the invoice for class was due. They were inventing a story in order to get out of paying an invoice.
     
    Unfortunately, there are many unreliable clients out there. I was teaching a class for a Fortune 500 Pharmaceutical company one time. The class went great. The students evaluations were stellar. A month later, the client complains that there were reports that I was using inappropriate language during the class. They could cite no specific examples, and the evaluations from class never mentioned it. They mentioned these complaints for the very first time when the invoice for class was due. They were inventing a story in order to get out of paying an invoice.
    It’s time to retire man ?
     
    I can’t imagine that could happen to the people who teach and educate others.
    From what I've observed, the people that put the ginormous screw down on people are not educators - they are business developers who try to make a buck by offering education that will "get you there faster than anyone else". They employ well-meaning educators to run classes, collect all the tuition and then find some way to keep as much as they can. It is sad how bad it can get.
     
    From what I've observed, the people that put the ginormous screw down on people are not educators - they are business developers who try to make a buck by offering education that will "get you there faster than anyone else". They employ well-meaning educators to run classes, collect all the tuition and then find some way to keep as much as they can. It is sad how bad it can get.
    This is exactly what I found recently, it’s really sad.
     
    View attachment 1107

    I don't know how many times I've talked to HR people who have no idea how to hire IT people. Perhaps it's that idea that we're still people that "fix desktop" computers, which is thinking from the year 2000. Sadly, many of us undersell ourselves in the marketplace but there will be someone out there that will take the lower money, so the crappy job offerings keep showing up.

    But I have to say something that Greg missed on his otherwise awesome post is that when IT steps into the cyber arena, they go in knowing that they could be jumping into a firestorm. The first time a real cyber incident kicks off, it's going to be the "cybersecurity expert that we just hired" that's going to be the sacrificial lamb. The person was hired to protect us from all cyber threats, blah blah - so when something does happen, there's a scapegoat - who may have some personal legal ramifications. That should, alone, command a substantial salary bump. Otherwise, is it really worth the pain of going through thousands of lines in a CSV file to look for that one breach, just to get paid $22/hr, just because a little more was worth it?

    This is a topic that begs me to roll out my ginormous soap box and pound the pulpit harder than an old school fire-and-brimstone Baptist preacher on a hot summer day. But Greg's already preached the sermon for me.

    Now the other side of the equation has to do with two categories of people, those who are getting into the field, and those who are older and fighting age-ism. The juicy job offerings aren't there, so they take what they can get until something else comes along that's better. Maybe they stop looking because it's easier to just sit in an office making $75k rather than going out and getting that $100k job. Maybe folks get tired of chewing the leather for a few extra bucks.

    It's a massive dynamic that's been around since ancient times, actually.

    /r
    Well articulated brother