This post was culled from Ngcareers Blog http://blog.ngcareers.com/4105/biggest-mistakes-companies-make-on-their-job-postings-and-recruitment-process/

There are numerous articles on resumes mistakes written by various employers, HR and other resources persons, however there are very obvious mistakes most employers make when posting jobs or in their recruitment process that most of these articles have failed to address. I have tried as much as possible to list some of them below.

Job descriptions are full of typos
Many employers do this (even some jobs posted on Ngcareers) and it is very bad, your job description should be typo free to help potential applicants understand the role required in the position being advertised and the steps you want them to take to apply. Some employer overlook this aspect because of the nature of the industry, they believe no matter the errors in the job details candidates will still apply, at the end they blame candidates for not understanding the job description. In our own effort we try to correct these typos where we can. But this is appalling.

Poor Formatting of job descriptions
Almost every employer/recruiter is guilty of this. Most jobs submitted are poorly formatted, this makes job descriptions hard to read and could make you lose quality applications. We spend several minutes reformatting various jobs published here on Ngcareers.

The length of some job descriptions/ requirements / desired skills is very unbearable.
Most NGO and government agencies are guilty of this, job details are extremely lengthy that you wonder whether this is actually a job description or an employment handbook. While your job description should be detailed, try as much as possible to keep it under reasonable length, to aid the job seeker fully understand your message when applying. Job descriptions between 300 words and 1000 words is ideal, at most keep it under 1500 words (my opinion).

Too short job details
Some SMEs are guilty of this, I don’t know if they think because they are small, their job description will be very small (some just post one line or few words). How do you expect the candidate to understand the role you want them to play in your company when all you wrote is just few words (e.g. “we are looking for a smart project manager, candidate must possess relevant degree”). Please try to add more flesh to your job description, it really helps.

Lying about Job Roles
Some companies notoriously lie about their job roles, when you are finally employed, they give you all the roles in the company, from errand boy to PA, from PA to customer service, from customer service to Sales/marketing officer; you begin to wonder whether you didn’t read the job description well. If a potential employee will perform multiple roles when employed kindly do them a favour by indicating it in your job details, so that they will know in advance what they are signing up for.

Lying about company values and culture
Most companies just list their values for listing sake, they are there just to look pretty and they hardly ever, if ever, practice what they preach. This is very bad, you can’t tell you potential employee that you value honesty and dedication and not show it from the owner down to the management. You can’t tell them you value your employees highly and still owe them salary or tell them that you train your employees periodically and never do that. It is good to try to practice what you preach, even if you don’t deliver 100%, 50% is better than nothing.

Deny a potentially good candidate interview due to minor typo.
Minor mistakes doesn’t indicate a candidate is dumb, try to overlook little mistakes and judge the candidate properly during interview. Humans are error prone including you, so try cut some slacks where necessary especially when the potential employees meets all your criteria.

Using Dumb softwares / programs that use keyword filters to filter applications.
It is not easy to go through thousands of applications without aid of a software, but some of these softwares / programs remove very good candidates who don’t fill their resumes with relevant and irrelevant keywords. Try and combine manual efforts with these softwares to get the best results.

Source: http://blog.ngcareers.com/4105/biggest-mistakes-companies-make-on-their-job-postings-and-recruitment-process/

DROP your thoughts

ok. get cheap datas for ur phones. Check my signature.

Nice one.

Front page pls.

Wonderful. I like this post. Employers think because there is wide spread unemployment and people are looking up to them for employment therefore it gives them the status to act like God and talk down the unemployed folks. Nonsense.

Please send this to the front page.

Ok. Tell dem

Ontarget: Wonderful. I like this post. Employers think because there is wide spread unemployment and people are looking up to them for employment therefore it gives them the status to act like God and talk down the unemployed folks. Nonsense.

Please send this to the front page.

Cool temper

hehehhe.... lie lie everywhere . the employers lies about their company and job post , applicants lies about their skills and experience in CVs. The truth is most times , employers usually do not select the best candidate that can do the work. atimes that applicant that has got great enthusiasm to do the job is even dropped at the inital stage and then that which is just looking for somewhere to hang around is chosen. The latter leaves when there is a better opportunity. The question is how do you know who has got most interest in your company and is ready to take your company to a next level ?

Hmmmmmmm

majekdom2: hehehhe.... lie lie everywhere . the employers lies about their company and job post , applicants lies about their skills and experience in CVs. The truth is most times , employers usually do not select the best candidate that can do the work. atimes that applicant that has got great enthusiasm to do the job is even dropped at the inital stage and then that which is just looking for somewhere to hang around is chosen. The latter leaves when there is a better opportunity. The question is how do you know who has got most interest in your company and is ready to take your company to a next level ?

Hmmmmmmm...

majekdom2: hehehhe.... lie lie everywhere . the employers lies about their company and job post , applicants lies about their skills and experience in CVs. The truth is most times , employers usually do not select the best candidate that can do the work. atimes that applicant that has got great enthusiasm to do the job is even dropped at the inital stage and then that which is just looking for somewhere to hang around is chosen. The latter leaves when there is a better opportunity. The question is how do you know who has got most interest in your company and is ready to take your company to a next level ?

You just hit the nail on the head.

majekdom2: hehehhe.... lie lie everywhere . the employers lies about their company and job post , applicants lies about their skills and experience in CVs. The truth is most times , employers usually do not select the best candidate that can do the work. atimes that applicant that has got great enthusiasm to do the job is even dropped at the inital stage and then that which is just looking for somewhere to hang around is chosen. The latter leaves when there is a better opportunity. The question is how do you know who has got most interest in your company and is ready to take your company to a next level ?

It takes a HR/employer who knows what they want to get these people, but then you need to do your own part by being truthful about the job role etc

Most of this job description are copied from foreign companies. Imagine a job where the require a web programmer with sound knowledge in mysql, php html and you want to pay the person 40,000 the applicant himself would just put these in his CV. Nigerian people deceiving people since inception.

pacodas:

It takes a HR/employer who knows what they want to get these people, but then you need to do your own part by being truthful about the job role etc

I mean as an employer how do you know ? If truly you can tell who has got the most interest in your company , your employees wouldn't resign when they hear of better pay even as you aren't offering too bad when it comes to salary. I am of the opinion that if you truly wish to develop yourself and a company of interest , you would not resign because of a better salary. This is because you know what you want really and the future you want for that company with you in there.* note *am talking of good companies that know how to develop quality human resource , not majority of our Nigerian companies*

Candidates must have 1st class/2.1 and must be less than 26...what they dont know is that these set of candidates wld get the job, but wld leave for a better offer in few months, cos they are the ones in high demand...especially the very young graduates.

ehen! tomorrow they will list mistakes applicants make. The should start removing the log of wood from their eyes before they try to wipe the dust from mine.

Lero15: Candidates must have 1st class/2.1 and must be less than 26...what they dont know is that these set of candidates wld get the job, but wld leave for a better offer in few months, cos they are the ones in high demand...especially the very young graduates.

majekdom2: I mean as an employer how do you know ? If truly you can tell who has got the most interest in your company , your employees wouldn't resign when they hear of better pay even as you aren't offering too bad when it comes to salary. I am of the opinion that if you truly wish to develop yourself and a company of interest , you would not resign because of a better salary. This is because you know what you want really and the future you want for that company with you in there.* note *am talking of good companies that know how to develop quality human resource , not majority of our Nigerian companies*

It's not easy at all knowing candidates that has interest in your company. But here are some pointers
* Most times they may not perform extremely well like the hot heads during interview but shows great enthusiasm.
* They are willing to start with something less than their worth if you promise to improve pay as time goes
* They don't hesitate much in accepting offers provided it's reasonable
* They are honest
* They don't lie in their CV just to impress you
* They know a lot about your company and the management, things normal outsider won't easily know without digging a little deep.

These few pointers may help but are no guarantee.

bossmini84: Most of this job description are copied from foreign companies. Imagine a job where the require a web programmer with sound knowledge in mysql, php html and you want to pay the person 40,000 the applicant himself would just put these in his CV. Nigerian people deceiving people since inception.

Yes most companies/HR Managers don't actually know the skills they want for a particular position, they just search the job description for that position on Google and use it without checking if they actually need all that it contains.

ednut1:

pacodas:

It's not easy at all knowing candidates that has interest in your company. But here are some pointers
* Most times they may not perform extremely well like the hot heads during interview but shows great enthusiasm.
* They are willing to start with something less than their worth if you promise to improve pay as time goes
* They don't hesitate much in accepting offers provided it's reasonable
* They are honest
* They don't lie in their CV just to impress you
* They know a lot about your company and the management, things normal outsider won't easily know without digging a little deep.

These few pointers may help but are no guarantee.

Very correct. the first ,third and last points say it. Sadly , recruiters don't employ such candidates because they may screen out the cv initially or fail to progress with the candidate because he didn't show a competence desired which other with no interest did. I have been turned down by companies I got great interest in. I kept in contact with the successful candidates , some of these candidates resigned barely a year after offer.The company must have been sad because they spent huge amount of money on overseas training already. If perhaps , I was given a chance to tell them about the company and my interest, may be ,I would e doing great with them right now.

majekdom2:
Very correct. the first ,third and last points say it. Sadly , recruiters don't employ such candidates because they may screen out the cv initially or fail to progress with the candidate because he didn't show a competence desired which other with no interest did. I have been turned down by companies I got great interest in. I kept in contact with the successful candidates , some of these candidates resigned barely a year after offer.The company must have been sad because they spent huge amount of money on overseas training already. If perhaps , I was given a chance to tell them about the company and my interest, may be ,I would e doing great with them right now.

The major cause is the current ratio of available jobs to available job seekers.

Some hr officers are bigoted in deciding the right candidates to hire after interviews. So sometimes they choose the wrong candidates based on tribal/religious sentiments or even looks,while leaving out the best candidates for the jobs.