Dienstag, 13. Oktober 2015

Why did you put this in your job ad?

You might have noticed that I'm currently semi-looking through vacancies. The current project ends at some point  and it will be time to change jobs sooner than later.

This is the sixth time in my life that I am doing this and I am definitely becoming more and more selective. I also tend to spot "dangerous" phrases in job ads. "Dangerous" as in 
  • makes me doubt the quality of the work environment
  • contains a technically invalid or doubtful statement
And I do not mean something like "You consider Lennart Poettering your personal hero" which is probably unique. I might strongly disagree with the requested sentiment, but I do give them credit for drawing quite a good demarcation line with a little humor mixed in. If you don't like Poettering's work (and you really shouldn't), you won't even consider to apply.

What I do mean are statements that are either
  • empty standard phrases copy and pasted from the last job ad.
  • that make you think if what is stated is really what was meant or if the statement was mangled on the way from tech to HR.
  • should make you think what they mean and why you should re-consider applying.
First of all, many, many job ads suffer from a total one-sidedness of information. There is usually a long list of requirements that a potential candidate is expected to fulfill. And than --at the end-- there is either nothing or something like "look forward to a responsible and challenging position in a nice team".

Which is just another nail in the coffin with regard to skilled worker shortage. You know, in a market, when there is a shortage, prices go up and there is marketing. "An nice team" is the absolute minimum I would expect from any employer. You know, I consider working with jerks a criminal offense against my personal well-being. Can you please tell me a little bit about your company, how it is to work at your place? Or at least provide a   link to exactly that information on your website? Because ... well ... I will spend at least 40 hours a week with you, your office and the other girls and guys you hired, I might want to know before if things work out ...

That's about it for the general problem of "informing the potential candidate". On to more specific stuff, shall we?

My favorite for concrete statements is "able to work under pressure". That one is even better in German, where it's "belastbar", (resilient), i.e. can put up with a lot of psychological (and maybe physical) stress.

It's a standard phrase, that a smart HR rep should probably remove from his/her vocabulary, especially when looking at current work environment problems in IT. I also found it quite rare nowadays, which probably means job ad writers are not as stupid as one might think.

The problem with the phrase is, that it can mean, that stress management is completely your own personal problem. Work gets dumped onto you and it is solely your  job to organize it. Deadlines and requirements change and it is still your job to get everything done on time. Expect no sympathies for your personal well-being from your employer.

If you get the impression that the latter interpretation is meant in the job ad: stay away. Those companies burn you out and they probably do not even understand that they have a problem.

In my list of infamous  this is immediately followed by "highly motivated individual"  or --very much worse-- "can-do attitude" . The former almost always means that motivating yourself for a task is exclusively your own problem. To tell the truth, I cannot imagine an environment, where seeing the need to state that they need an especially motivated individual is not a bad sign. Can-do attitude on the other hand is also a dangerous game, because, realistically, some things just cannot be done within allocated time and budget and can-doers often enough simply lack experienced or confidence to hold their ground when assigned impossible tasks. If you think the company wants a yes-man can-doer, stay away.

"ability to work independently" is more ambiguous. It can be interpreted as an euphemism for "we don't have proper organization, so you are on your own, but we still hold you responsible for results". On the other hand, it also might also mean that you are giving plenty of free room to decide on your own how to approach and accomplish your tasks. Remember, however, IT work environments are not what they used to be, so be wary that more independence might actually mean more responsibilities without sufficient resources. Remember, "you want logistics, join the army, Marines make do".

I also like "fast-paced work environment", "be on the pulse of the newest technologies", "things might be moving faster than you expected". This often all mean the same thing: The office is in chaos, everything is constantly changing, there is a lack of direction. It might also be, that work is heavy "startup like", i.e. constantly out on a limp without real financial security and planning. The latter is often indicated by using the word "dynamic" both as in "dynamic individual" or "dynamic workplace".

This might mean a lot of churn, but also often little progress, which can be and usually is exhausting and annoying. And churn but little progress is typical hype-stuff. Currently the cloud is still in the churn phase, producing a lot of different, incompatible technologies but providing little long-term progress. If you are still young and want the heat, go, take it. But if you like a little more thinking and engineering and a little less idiotic hacking: think again before applying.

"Team player" is often seen as a code phrase. Explicitly emphasizing that the team is important might mean you need to constantly put your own needs behind that of the project. In this sense "team player" might actually mean that you receive orders without complaints. As usual: It might also be a copy-and-paste standard phrase, but if you are under the expression that its use is explicit, think again.

And then of course, there's, "target driven", "economic thinker". Your job is to get stuff done with the minimal resources possible. You will have to file a three-page document to get a new pencil because those are expensive.