Write a killer job description so you don't have to kill your recruiter/applicants

Brent Ozar - Kendra Little - How to Write a Killer SQL Server Job Description

On September 24, we published a blog post that we were looking for a new employee. We didn’t advertise on any job listing sites (even though there are some really good ones out there). We tweeted about it a few times, but most of our publicity was that single post. We received more than 70 applications for the job by email. We were truly impressed by the applicant pool– multiple well known international speakers and Microsoft Certified Masters applied for the job.

When I talk to hiring managers, I hear that it’s hard to find good SQL Server pros for a job these days. How did we attract such cool people?

The secret to getting employees that don’t suck: Write a job advertisement that doesn’t suck.

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There's a couple interesting points in this post, one that look for and am not seeing allot of (likely because we didn't ask right), such as their point #2...

2. Ask what you really want to know– and don’t ask for a resume

Are you hiring someone to write resumes as part of their job? If so ask for a resume. If not, why bother? Resumes tell you very little about an applicant. If you must have one as part of your HR requirements, you can get it later in the process.

In your job ad, ask for what you really want instead of a resume. Brent, Jeremiah and I worked together to figure out what basic things we could ask that would indicate whether the candidate would thrive in this job over time. We whittled down the list as much as possible to keep it simple. We asked for two things:

• Recent speaking experience
• A description of how the applicant has contributed to a technial community.

And that’s it. That’s all we wanted.

hum... no resume? I think the hiring world would crumble and tear a whole in the fabric of time and space, but that doesn't me I don't like the idea.

Personally, I hire for aptitude and attitude as just about anything else can be taught or learned.

One note on resumes, for the love of god, please grammar and spell check them. Also make sure your acronyms are right and consistent. Finally, if your resume makes my eyes bleed, well, into the Round File it goes...