As a usability professional, the struggle with recruitment communications is real. I want to share some requirements from a recent UX job “description” — in quotes because it’s more of a laundry list of hopes and dreams than a coherent role definition.
Preface
Before I get into it – many items here are better suited for dedicated roles, or too broad for any single UX hire regardless of seniority. Some items are just… odd.
Here’s what this posting actually asked for
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- Establish the company’s technical vision — lead all aspects of the company’s technological development
- Direct the company’s strategic direction, development and future growth
- Do workshops internally and with customers
- Conduct technological analyses and research
- Open up new whitespaces for us
- Help in pivoting our image from being an “executor” of designs to a “design & strategic” partner
- Management of sales process and product delivery
- Experience in overall transformation of Front/Back end systems for digitization
- Experience in Mobile First Methodology to ensure internal systems are supported on all devices
- Expert skills on Project management
- QA/Test experience
- PR/marketing experience
Breaking it down
CTO/VP Engineering territory: establish tech vision, lead technological development, direct strategic direction and future growth.
Niche or dedicated role territory: PR/marketing, sales process management, product delivery, project management, QA/Test.
Genuinely odd: “Open up new whitespaces for us.” I’ve been in this field a long time. I still don’t know what action I’m supposed to take on day one to accomplish that.
My Analysis
This isn’t a unicorn role. A unicorn role is a real job that asks for a rare combination of skills. This is a job description written by a committee that never stopped to ask: what does this person actually do on Tuesday morning?
Every touchpoint in your recruitment process is a signal about your organization. A job description this incoherent tells strong candidates — the ones with options — exactly what working there might feel like. They read it and move on.
If you’re writing a job description right now: start with what the person will own. Then what they’ll influence. Then what experience makes someone good at those specific things. That’s a job description. Everything else is a wishlist.
Originally shared on LinkedIn.