Let me tell you a story…
Many decades ago, I worked as a computer programmer.
Our team was chronically understaffed – we had 7 people, but needed 10 – so the company ran an ad to attract programmers.
The ad listed the qualifications we were looking for. The problem was, the criteria were silly.
In fact, out of the 7 people in the team, only one of us would have been qualified to apply. The other 6 either didn’t have the university degree or the number of years’ experience the ad claimed were necessary
That’s right, 6 of us weren’t even qualified to apply for our own jobs.
So why did the ad ask for these?
It’s because it’s far easier to just list a bunch of features than to stop and think about what you’re really looking for.
And this is what I see when I see “PPC manager” ads.
I just looked at one on LinkedIn.
One of their essential requirements was 2+ years of managing PPC accounts.
Another was knowledge of MS Excel.
As though you could spend 2 years managing PPC accounts and never use a spreadsheet…
Another of their criteria was “Knowledge of Hubspot.” I’ve got news for you, Hubspot isn’t difficult to learn.
You know WHY it’s not hard to learn?
It’s because, if it was difficult, few companies would use it… and Hubspot would have a tiny market share.
So they were saying, “We want someone that’s capable of using a piece of software designed for the mass market.”
Really? That’s how low your expectations are?
Of course not. But, when you don’t know how to tell a good candidate from a bad one, you ask for silly things like this.
And, if your recruitment ads are asking for stuff like this, it should be a HUGE red flag that you haven’t thought properly about the role.
All the best,
Steve Gibson
PS Another job listing said, “Are you passionate about analytics”?
Seriously? You want to work alongside some weirdo whose passion is analytics?
I’m passionate about a lot of things. Travel, music, women…
But I’m not passionate about analytics.
I’m damn good at analytics – and it can be interesting and fun to dig into the data and find insights that can transform a business – but it’s not one of my “passions.”
But, because the company had never thought about who they SHOULD want to hire, they write nonsense like this.
