1. Multitasking
Sure, you want someone that can handle different types of tasks thrown their way, be able to prioritize them and not get overwhelmed. That’s an important part of any job.
But the thing is – everyone thinks they’re good at multitasking. No one is going to disqualify themselves because they think they can’t multitask. Almost everyone has to do it in some respect at their jobs. And truthfully, multi-tasking can be counterproductive, so while you may need someone that can shift focus quickly, you should get out of the habit of promoting multi-tasking.
- Rock Star, Superstar, Wizard, Ninja, Guru, or Jedi
It’s unnecessary, it’s overused and despite the fact of it trying to be colorful and not boring, it’s actually quite boring. It goes without saying that you want someone that works at a high level, you’re never going to have a job and say to yourself, “meh, we really don’t need a ‘Superstar’ for this one.” So, there’s no need to get goofy. But if you are referring to a wizard as having to have a certain level of experience, now you’re talking a different story. But despite the imagery of a long white bear, that isn’t implied.
- Competitive salary
Competitive with who? Everyone thinks they’re offering a competitive salary, it’s another pretty much meaningless term. If you’re going to mention the salary at all in the job description, you might as well be specific and give a potential salary range.
- Work-hard, Play-hard
This is a case of showing rather than telling. Work-hard is a given, but as for play-hard – get specific, what do you mean? Are there monthly company outings? Do you have themed Fridays, like we do at Talent Retriever? Does your team genuinely get along with each other and choose to spend time with one another outside of work? Don’t be afraid to mention that towards the end of the top section of job description where you may start talking company value. Although you don’t want to get too cute with job descriptions, you can interject personality into it, and a few well-written sentences about amenities can do that.
