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When I was hiring developers, I wrote the job role hoping for the perfect rock star candidate. "Must have experience with the Home Depot vendor system" I mean

When I was hiring developers, I wrote the job role hoping for the perfect rock star candidate. "Must have experience with the Home Depot vendor system" I mean, what if someone fulfilled all my "musts"?!? That'd be the perfect person. But you hardly ever find rock stars. And so you hire the best person who doesn't have all the required skills. Don't let job requirements stop you from applying. And don't think that I'm being unrealistic for asking for what I probably won't get.

detaro 8y ago
Why write "must have" when it's not a "must have"? Why not admit that you'd consider people not ticking all the boxes?
- ranci 8y ago
  So that it weeds out rational, reasonable, honest people and the company can continue to receive people who are prone to overconfidence, lying, and other pro-social psychopathic traits.
- koala_man 8y ago
  Why go to a restaurant and ask "can I get a diet Coke, please"? Why not admit that you'd consider other sugar free, carbonated, cola flavored soft drinks? Because both parties should already be aware that it's a negotiation between people and not a blockchain contract to be mechanically evaluated according to a spec.
  - detaro 8y ago
    Indeed, you say "can I get a Coke please", not "it must be a diet Coke" - or if you do, you probably want to make it clear that you'd not consider alternatives. Similarly, enough companies use actual-must in job offerings (for all or for some requirements), and enough companies are clear about (some) requirements being a preference that expecting candidates to divine which employers do and which don't mean it when they say "must" means you'll loose out on some candidates, for no good reason.
notahacker 8y ago
There is scope for putting "experience with x an advantage/bonus" instead of "must have x" if don't want to put off the vast majority of well-qualified applicants that are not likely to have x, but would like to be noticed by the people that do. Especially if x isn't something very useful like experience with a framework you use, but something relatively trivial like knowledge of a CRUD app they periodically do a bit of data input into.
- mooreds 8y ago
  I try to review our job requirements every time they are posted (for a new hire or backfill) and move more things from "requirements" to "advantages". It is hard, though, because hope springs eternal.

detaro 8y ago

Why write "must have" when it's not a "must have"? Why not admit that you'd consider people not ticking all the boxes?

ranci 8y ago
So that it weeds out rational, reasonable, honest people and the company can continue to receive people who are prone to overconfidence, lying, and other pro-social psychopathic traits.
koala_man 8y ago
Why go to a restaurant and ask "can I get a diet Coke, please"? Why not admit that you'd consider other sugar free, carbonated, cola flavored soft drinks? Because both parties should already be aware that it's a negotiation between people and not a blockchain contract to be mechanically evaluated according to a spec.
- detaro 8y ago
  Indeed, you say "can I get a Coke please", not "it must be a diet Coke" - or if you do, you probably want to make it clear that you'd not consider alternatives. Similarly, enough companies use actual-must in job offerings (for all or for some requirements), and enough companies are clear about (some) requirements being a preference that expecting candidates to divine which employers do and which don't mean it when they say "must" means you'll loose out on some candidates, for no good reason.

notahacker 8y ago

There is scope for putting "experience with x an advantage/bonus" instead of "must have x" if don't want to put off the vast majority of well-qualified applicants that are not likely to have x, but would like to be noticed by the people that do. Especially if x isn't something very useful like experience with a framework you use, but something relatively trivial like knowledge of a CRUD app they periodically do a bit of data input into.

mooreds 8y ago
I try to review our job requirements every time they are posted (for a new hire or backfill) and move more things from "requirements" to "advantages". It is hard, though, because hope springs eternal.