Mark Wilson’s Post

AS ESSENTIAL AS IRONING WATER? A few years ago I remember seeing that a well-known supermarket had included ironing water in their 'essentials' range. Clearly their view of essentials was somewhat different to mine. I find myself thinking along very similar lines when I see company adverts and job descriptions. Essential? Really? And so when discussing vacancies with clients I look to really drill down into their list of essential requirements. And more often than not, many of those 'essentials' are actually preferences, 'would be nice to haves' or not required at all. And yet there they sit, in the job spec or advert, under the essentials banner. Like the ironing water. What's the problem with that I hear you ask? Well it puts people off. And surely an advert is meant to attract people, not put them off! Furthermore, it's likely to put women off more than men. There's plenty of studies showing that women are only likely to apply for roles where they tick 80% or more of the boxes. Boxes your advert or job spec is stipulating that may not be relevant at all. Don't be fooled into thinking that the more essentials you list the more you'll deter those pesky speculative applicants. They'll apply anyway (and hats off to the Crew Member at a certain fast food establishment who has just applied for a Head of Compliance & MLRO role. I love your ambition). Instead you're more likely to be discouraging people who'd you'd actually love to hear from, which doesn't make a great deal of sense in my eyes. And so next time you're pulling together a job spec or an advert, think again about those essential requirements. Are they really essential? Or are they AS ESSENTIAL AS IRONING WATER? #compliance #riskmanagement #financialcrime