Exploring the Job Candidate Bill of Rights
What a long, strange trip it¡¯s been. OK, maybe not that strange, but over the last several weeks we have broken down the Job Candidate Bill of Rights created by Accolo¡¯s John Younger. We¡¯ve covered everything from confidentiality to communication, and now we have arrived at the end. Number 10 on John¡¯s list is ¡°information,¡± something that candidates feel they¡¯re just not getting enough of:
Information
All applicants will be provided with the necessary information about the company, hiring manager, compensation, performance expectations, etc. in order to make an informed career decision.
Information, or the lack thereof, is such an important topic to job candidates that The Wall Street Journal actually included it twice in their bill of rights:
¡°5. I want to know the details. Companies that provide details about their benefit plans get my attention. They can easily explain the basics on their website with a PDF, instead of a brief, meaningless overview that does me no good.
¡°6. I want to learn about you. ¡°Day in the life¡± profiles help me see myself in an organization.¡±
For some job boards, a lack of information isn¡¯t the real problem. Instead, it¡¯s the lack of usable information. These boards are filled with countless details, but none of them really give the candidate a better understanding of the job, the company, the work environment, or anything else:
¡°For the job seeker, the problem is the same: when they look on giant job boards they see a bunch of undifferentiated jobs, often posted by clueless headhunters that provide all kinds of information you don¡¯t need (¡±A leading provider of whatever¡±) and none of the information you do need (what¡¯s the name of the company? Do they make nuclear bombs? Will they give me a private office and a big monitor? Free M&Ms? Are they sloppy hacks or quality hackers? Can I use Ruby on Rails?)¡± (From Joel on Software)
The last ten weeks have given us the chance to see what¡¯s on the minds of most of the job candidates out there. As we see it, there just isn¡¯t a source right now for candidates, recruiters, and hiring managers to effectively connect and communicate. As we¡¯ve said before, change is coming, but it won¡¯t just be for candidates. After all, there are things that recruiters and hiring authorities need, and we hope to explore those topics in the future with a comprehensive Bill of Rights for each group.