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What’s Most Important to YOU as a Candidate?

When looking for work (whether actively or just nosing around), what’s most important to you when looking into the company?

I’m interested in your priorities about the specific job as well, but just as interested in your priorities around the company.

What would you like to ask an interviewer given the chance?

What would you LOVE to see in a job posting (but don’t ever expect to, or have very rarely seen)?

Please comment below. Or tweet a response with the hashtag #jobdescs

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August 11, 2010 Posted in Recruiting by

  • http://twitter.com/marksuddaby Mark Suddaby

    Here's one to get the list started:

    The reason we started this business was to …….. Do you share our passion? We're looking for talented, inspiring people to join our team.

    Together, let's create a vision for you in our business, combining of your talents, passion, goals and dreams, and those of the other team members and our customers.

    If you have a vision you're passionate about sharing with us, get in touch!

  • John Renfro

    I interviewed with a company yesterday that listed “work/life balance” as one of the key requirements in the description.

  • http://twitter.com/thisisfranciswu Francis Wu

    Salary would be nice, but often not realistic. Job perks is a must, as is a thorough job description.

    I'd like to see less narcissistic or boastful posts. I'm turned off by companies that spend more time talking about themselves than about the job and what it'll mean to me.

    One thing I would love to see is the names and contact info of the people I will be working with directly, as if the company has nothing to hide. This gives candidates the opportunity to sniff out BS companies before even setting foot in one for a controlled interview.

  • Cedric

    The company culture, i don't really want to know if you have big clients or if you have been in business for 20 years, keep that for your clients,

    What I really want to know is what it's like to work for your business.

  • Carrie

    One question that I always ask in an interview is, “Can you tell me about the decision making process here?”
    That question seems to illicit a lot of information about the corporate culture. Often, people will complain about how difficult it is to get a decision made. It is when someone is relaxed and happy answering that question and can clearly articulate who makes decisions and which ones need exec approval, etc. that I know that this is a place I might really want to work.
    As for what I want in a job posting….An honest statement about what the company really needs in terms of the type of person they are looking for. Not just the job specifics, but is this position really one where they want a leader or go-getter, or is this more of a do-what-you're-told position.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ebwolf Eric Wolf

    I worked for a game company where the boss literally said he started the company so he could bat second and play left-center field on the company softball team.

    Actually, the reasons for starting that company were obvious: the guy loved football and baseball and wanted to make games that mirrored his love. Unfortunately, his name was John Madden.

  • Singpolyma

    Company size is a factor. Medium-big companies (50+ people) just don't interest me.
    Company culture for sure (but that's largely handled by limiting team size… though not always).
    Company about page/social media presence (if I can tell what you really do + what you have really been doing recently, that's interesting to me)
    In the job posting: I want to know what I'd be working on (one product, all products, infrastructure, support?), what you think the skills are (tools, experience)

  • http://www.facebook.com/ebwolf Eric Wolf

    I'd like three references:

    1. From a current employee
    2. From a previous employee
    3. From a customer

    Hiring managers always expect references. Why can't potential employees have the same expectations?

    Another thing a friend of mine always insists on: Let me see the books. Taking a job is the biggest investment you can make in a company – you are investing your life. Expect the same level of information from the company as you would if they were asking for $1,000,000 out of your pocket.

  • http://karl.dubost.myopenid.com/ Karl

    * Do you own patents? Why?
    * What is your position on remote working?
    * What is your position on working schedule?
    * Do you participate to the opensource community and projects and how?
    * What is the position of the company with regards to open data? licensing?
    * Can I see things published online by your employees? (source code, blogs, etc)
    * What is the median of employees in terms of years spent in the company? (important to see the stability of the company, specifically for small ones)
    * What is the gender balance?
    * What is the last cool project you have done? Why?
    * What is the last nightmare project you have done? Why?
    * What is your work process? Waterfall, Agile, etc?
    * What is the ethic of the company? What are your ideas? What is your focus?
    * What is the policy for computers?
    * Describe the work environment (offices, view around, cubicle or open space, etc.)
    * Tell if the company is is an suburb, in the middle of nowhere, or right in the middle of a city
    * Explain the transportation system
    * Are there any benefits for transportation, lunch, etc
    * Give real data on how long people are really working at the office 12h/day or 8h/day.
    * How many days for Annual Leave (paid holidays)?
    * What is the Employes policy (give a public link)?
    * Are you a member of W3C? :p

  • http://dokdok.com Bruno Morency

    I'm all for transparency and getting new hires really involved in more than a plain job description but “Expect the same level of information from the company as you would if they were asking for $1,000,000 out of your pocket.” … isn't that pushing it a bit?

    You are not investing $1M out of your pocket, why do you expect the same level of information as if you were? Unless you're taking not any salary, you're not really investing your time either. You sure are putting you time and talent in the company but that's what you get paid for.

    The only case where getting some level of access to the books could make sense is if a large part of the salary is to be paid in shares or options.

  • http://www.geoffreywiseman.ca Geoffrey Wiseman

    Sadly, most job postings don't even really try. So rather than think about what a job posting should strive for, I'm content to set the bar low, and talk about the things that most job postings should contain as much of as they can:
    https://torontotechjobs.wordpress.com/criteria/

  • http://cotsog.wordpress.com/ Dominic Jodoin

    Regarding questions for an interviewer, these posts have interesting ones:

    http://www.martincmartin.com/blog/?p=144
    http://www.martincmartin.com/blog/?p=149

  • http://twitter.com/consultski Jeff SKI Kinsey

    Ben, please come down off that ledge. I know how tough it can be looking at the crap that passes for technology in the recruiting space. I know there has to be a better way. #&%% I even built one myself. But no good can come of this… think of your family. They love you, man. Don't put them through another recruiting space startup. Please.

    “Go back to Sears. They love you down there.” —Les Brown [recounting how his family tried to talk him out of self-employment] {grin}

  • http://twitter.com/consultski Jeff SKI Kinsey

    Ben, please come down off that ledge. I know how tough it can be looking at the crap that passes for technology in the recruiting space. I know there has to be a better way. #&%% I even built one myself. But no good can come of this… think of your family. They love you, man. Don't put them through another recruiting space startup. Please.

    “Go back to Sears. They love you down there.” —Les Brown [recounting how his family tried to talk him out of self-employment] {grin}

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    *smile* This question is more out of curiosity than anything, not related to a startup in the job space :)

    Thanks for the kind words though!

  • http://twitter.com/consultski Jeff SKI Kinsey

    Okay, in that case: in the posting, I want the BBB report on potential employers. I am sick and tired of companies asking me about my loyalty, all the while knowing that they will dump me in two seconds if the mood hits them… and then when my paycheck bounces on top of it all, it just makes me mad. I would also like to see their D&B reports. You think you are entitled to run my credit? I want to see yours!

    Question for the recruiter: Do you have any clue how this position contributes to the bottom line of your company?

  • http://griyamobilkita.webs.com sewa mobil

    Nice article, thaks for the information

  • http://www.businesspace.zoomshare.com Cash Gifting

    Love this blog post!… I will research this topic some more on Google search and read recent posts here. Great information! Thanks!… :)

  • http://www.seslisohbetlive.com Sesli Sohbet

    I interviewed with a company yesterday that listed “work/life balance” as one of the key requirements in the description.

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About Ben Yoskovitz
I recently joined GoInstant as VP Product. GoInstant changes how we use the web, making it shareable like never before.

I'm also a Founding Partner at Year One Labs, an early stage accelerator in Montreal. Previously I founded Standout Jobs (and sold it). I'm a hands-on startup guy, helping companies grow successfully from the idea forward. You can reach me at byosko at gmail dot com.

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