Kasper Munkholm
Project Manager and Partner
Job requirements: how to describe a technical role before the search starts
The requirements profile decides who gets found and who gets screened out before anyone has spoken to them. In a technical role this is especially clear, because titles and requirements mean different things from one company to the next. A good requirements profile describes the tasks, separates the real requirements from the nice-to-haves and gives the candidate a picture of what the job involves in practice.
Table of contents
Start with the tasks
Begin with what the person will be doing in the first year, not with the title or the last job ad. Which projects or plants will they work on? Which equipment and systems? Is the work done mainly in the office, on site or at customers’ premises? Who will the person report to, and who will they need to coordinate with?
Once the tasks are described, the requirements become easier to put into words. They follow from the tasks, not from a standard list. It also makes it easier to assess candidates from another industry, because you can compare their previous tasks with yours.
Few requirements, more nice-to-haves
Many requirements profiles contain more requirements than the job calls for. Every extra requirement shrinks the pool, and for technical roles the pool is often small to begin with.
Ask the same question of every requirement: What happens if the candidate doesn’t have it from day one? If they would need a few weeks to get up to speed, it’s a nice-to-have. If the job can’t be done at all without it, it’s a requirement. Typical requirements are the professional foundation, statutory authorisations and certificates, experience with the type of responsibility the role involves, and the language the job requires.
Industry knowledge, your systems and your internal procedures more often belong among the nice-to-haves. We’ve written more about what a new hire can learn on the job, and about why the industry should rarely be a requirement.
Requirement or nice-to-have?
Can the job be done without it from day one?
No
Requirement
- Professional foundation
- Statutory certificates
- Experience with the responsibility
- The language the job requires
Yes, after a few weeks
Nice-to-have
- Industry knowledge
- Your systems
- Internal procedures
Titles mean different things
The same title can cover very different tasks. At one company a site manager runs the entire construction site, while another company uses the title for the person coordinating a single discipline. Across borders it becomes even clearer: a byggeleder in Denmark, a construction manager in Norway and a Bauleiter in Germany can have almost the same tasks or quite different ones.
So describe the responsibility rather than letting the title speak for itself. How many people will the person manage? Do they have budget responsibility? Will they approve contractors’ work or coordinate with them? That makes it easier for the right candidates to recognise themselves, and for others to see that the role isn’t a fit.
Niels MøllerSenior Recruitment Consultant
The title says less than the tasks
Describe the responsibility instead:
- Staff responsibility
- Budget responsibility
- Approves or coordinates
Why is the role vacant?
One of the first questions we ask is what your needs are and where you have struggled to fill the role. It’s also worth clarifying why it’s vacant. Is it a new role, a replacement for someone who has left, or a position that has been advertised for a long time?
The answer affects the requirements profile. If it’s a new role, the tasks may not be fully defined yet. If it’s a replacement, it’s worth considering whether the role should be the same as before. If the position has been advertised for a long time, it may be a sign that one of the requirements rules out most candidates.
The terms candidates ask about
Experienced technical professionals are usually in work and will compare your role with the one they have. The requirements profile should therefore also clarify the practical terms they typically ask about:
- Where does the day-to-day work take place, and how much travel is involved?
- Are there shifts or periods of changing working hours?
- What salary level is the role at?
- Which projects, products or plants will the person work with over the next few years?
The last point is often what makes the role interesting. Candidates are motivated by different things, and for many the projects and equipment count as much as the salary. Especially when you need to reach candidates who aren’t looking for a job, this is the part of the description that gets them to reply.
Who should help write the profile?
The future manager should be involved, because they know what the person will be doing. It also helps to bring in an experienced colleague who knows the tasks in practice and can tell the difference between what is necessary and what is habit.
HR can make sure terms, salary and process fit together. If you use a recruitment agency, it should have access to the future manager so the technical questions are clarified before the search starts.
Common pitfalls
- The old job ad as a template. Requirements from a previous role are copied over without being reassessed.
- The title as the description. The profile says "project manager" without describing the responsibility and tasks.
- Too many requirements. Every requirement that is really a nice-to-have shrinks the pool.
- No reason to switch. The profile describes what you expect from the candidate, but not what the candidate gains by switching.
Contact us
If you need help describing a technical role and finding the candidates, we’re happy to talk about the role. Read more about our technical recruitment or contact us directly.
FAQ
A job requirements profile describes the tasks a role involves and the qualifications a candidate needs to carry them out. It is used as the basis for job ads, search and candidate assessment.
The tasks for the first year, responsibilities and reporting lines, the requirements that must be met from day one, the nice-to-haves, and the practical terms such as place of work, travel and salary level.
As few as possible. A requirement should only be there if the job can’t be done without it. The rest are nice-to-haves, and the profile should make that clear.
The requirements profile is your internal description of the role and the requirements. The job ad is the text candidates see, and it builds on the requirements profile.
Rarely. If the candidate has the professional foundation and has handled similar tasks, the industry-specific parts can often be learned on the job.
Describe responsibilities and tasks rather than titles, because the same title can mean different things in Denmark, the Nordics and Germany.
