"Entry-level position, must have 2-5 years experience"

Created: September 10, 2020

Today we continue our series on potential red flags in SuiteScript job postings:

"Entry-level position, must have 2-5 years experience"

In this installment, I'm turning my eye to the "Job/Skill Requirements" section of any job posting. It probably goes without saying that this is a critical portion of any posting or description. You and your potential employer want to be on the same page with regards to the skills required to do your job - perfectly sensible. However, there are often some major oversights or problems with this section, so here's what you should be looking for:

Nonsensical Experience Lengths

In that list of Skill Requirements, make sure you're doing a sanity check of any skills and experience expectations. If, in 2020, they're asking for "10 years of SuiteScript 2.0 experience", a little alarm should go off in your head because SS2.0 hasn't even existed that long yet.

There are plenty of innocent causes for something like this:

1. Typos!
2. The Job Requirements were written by HR or a Recruiter or someone very distant from the actual SuiteScript work.
3. The Hiring Manager is not well-versed in that particular skill.
4. Typso!

While the causes might be innocent enough, the implication is a bit more serious; it indicates to me that the company may not have a disciplined hiring process, is not reviewing or thinking critically about their job postings, isn't acutely aware of the skills they need or why, or perhaps all of those things at once. If they're not deeply invested in the messaging and the process of bringing you on as an employee, how invested might they be in developing your skills afterward?

If you see an inconsistency like this in a posting, ask about it!

Massive List of Skills Required

This one pairs nicely with the "Multitasking" and "Multiple Hats" emails earlier in the series. The longer that list of required skills gets, the less focus you're going to have in your job. I'll refer you back to those emails to see why I think that's a bad thing.

Mismatched Experience and Rank/Compensation

The subject of this email is a good example of this one. You want to be sure that the title, compensation, and responsibilities you'll be given are in line with the experience stated. In our example, someone with 2 - 5 years experience is not "entry-level", especially in the SuiteScript niche. Calling a 5-year SuiteScript veteran "entry-level" is insulting, and paying them an "entry-level" wage is abhorrent.

Make sure you're doing a close examination of the alignment between the knowledge required, the responsibilities expected, and the compensation package. If something seems out of line, then it's worth noting now and asking about in the first interview.

No Posted Wage

In order to do that aforementioned examination, the job posting has to state what the compensation package is - including a salary range or pay rate. Unfortunately, I see far too many postings - especially those that come through recruiting firms - which do not contain this information, and it boggles my mind. After Job Title, that's universally the first thing everyone wants to know about every job they might be interested in. How else can a person make an informed decision about whether they want to pursue further?

Employers and Recruiters: Stop wasting your and your candidates' time; post salaries or wage ranges on all your jobs. I sincerely hope you have nothing to hide about how you compensate your employees.

Job Candidates: If a salary isn't posted, that should be your first question before even accepting an interview. Don't go through seven rounds of interviews only to find out they're only paying half your worth.

If you've recently seen some offenders of these red flags or any others, please share!

If you want to make sure you're not one of those offenders, consider a Hiring Process Audit.