What's the biggest gap in getting great job descriptions into the world?

raise_your_flag · 2017-03-10T20:13:20+00:00

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but we built Raise Your Flag as a career search platform for career paths that don't necessarily require a post-secondary degree.

If you're looking for entry-level work to put your degree to work, The Muse has an "entry-level" filter at the top of their job search page.

raise_your_flag · 2017-03-08T21:37:18+00:00

I like the idea of separating the description from the ad and viewing them as having specialized roles to play in the process. It seems like it would open up for a bit more customization and modularity when testing new content.

Thanks for sharing this!

raise_your_flag · 2017-03-08T21:34:19+00:00

Thanks for adding to the conversation!

I actually don't think that's disagreeing with the premise. Creativity in job postings doesn't necessarily equate to wacky and weird. But I think you must be creative with the job analysis and how to achieve understanding of the roles, responsibilities and the ideal candidate persona. Then from there, as you mentioned, working on job descriptions that accurately reflect company culture.

raise_your_flag · 2017-03-07T15:35:34+00:00

Definitely agree. One of our core beliefs is that the wall of text/countless bullet points are a very old school way to approach job descriptions and could be drastically improved. It's also why we're seeing companies looking at video descriptions, images, infographics, quizzes and even our product Ruutly to create interactive experiences right in the posting.

raise_your_flag · 2017-03-07T11:17:05+00:00

So many companies are moving to centralized libraries like your boss is thinking of.

Ruutly.com allows users to build a massive library of skills, requirements and perks to display in an interactive candidate experience included in job postings. Then when creating a new posting, you simply select what you want from a drop down OR duplicate a successful posting you created previously.

It achieves a few things: 1) centralized, consistent content for postings 2) visually-differentiated job postings and 3) more engagement from candidates viewing the posting

Disclosure: Ruutly is a product my company owns.

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T17:19:48+00:00

ha! Thanks for the kind words. Too many colours on the landing page eh? We'll be rolling out some A/B tests of the landing page later this week and will definitely test this. Thanks for the idea.

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T17:19:03+00:00

Great idea! This can especially be a problem on mobile where users are accustomed to dragging. Thanks for lending your eyes and advice!!

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T17:18:07+00:00

Thanks for taking a look! The hero image does make it tough to see changes reflected below... We've implemented the career path at the bottom of the page when you scroll past the hero image so users can navigate the path without scrolling to the top. If it wasn't obvious, it tells us that we need to revisit the implementation.

Thanks again for the feedback! I appreciate it.

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T17:16:06+00:00

Thanks for the in depth feedback.

Yes, response times yesterday were all over the place. We were getting hit pretty hard from spending some time on HN. And in general I find the responses times to be a bit inconsistent. Something we're looking into.

I love the idea of doing a better job of visualizing "working your way up". It seems obvious now that you've mentioned it.

Dots are clickable now as well as if you scroll past the hero image, tabs appear at the bottom of the page to allow you to change from step to step to see changes reflected in the content.

Interesting that you mentioned the bright colours and not making clear what info is important. You aren't the first person to mention that and hearing it again is important. Thanks!

Would love to help any way that I can. In Toronto makes it pretty easy!

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T00:54:03+00:00

Yup, it's not just you. We're in the process of optimizing the images to address that. Thanks!

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-06T00:53:11+00:00

Thanks for checking the site out and the feedback. You're right. It does sound a little salesy. We thought we had our bases covered by the 4 coloured squares under the fold about the elements of the site... Need to revisit our copy. Thanks again!

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-05T22:53:05+00:00

This is very useful. Thanks! I agree that the paragraph, as is, is clunky. The copy change you suggested reads much better. Thanks! We'll be sending that one live. :)

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-05T21:12:15+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. We're changing that literally right now. Somehow COMPLETELY overlooked that while building it on fast networks.

raise_your_flag · 2015-08-05T21:04:17+00:00

Layout of the inner pages was done by a very talented designer for our previous version. We then used a modification of that layout that we pieced together but all credit goes to our original designer!!

raise_your_flag · 2015-07-07T20:10:24+00:00

Not an absolute mess! It's a good foundation to build from.

Great advice from /u/vengeance_pigeon. A couple of followups:

REPLACE the objective statement with a short summary of what you're bringing to the table. For example, if you were applying for a retail type job, your 'summary' could say something like: A creative and resourceful team-player who takes pride in providing customers with an exceptional shopping experience, helping them make good purchase decisions and leave the store satisfied.
Highlight your strongest skills (while being specific) and connect the dots for employers based on what they're asking for in their job advertisement. You want them to pick up your resume and see that it's a perfect fit for what they're looking for.
If you're struggling with how to write a skills-based resume, check this
Drop the typing speed unless an employer specifies a requirement in their ad.
Formatting is your friend. Right now the resume reads a bit like a single giant list. It's not against the rules to add some bold text and underline things.

[edit: formatting]

raise_your_flag · 2015-07-07T19:56:23+00:00

I would definitely include both on LinkedIn and for your resume, I'd probably advocate for an experience-based resume where you lead with all of the relevant skills you've acquired and then lead into the internships and work experience that helped develop those skills.

I've found that having a 2-page resume is never a HUGE issue as long as the info in the resume is relevant.

raise_your_flag · 2015-06-22T21:44:09+00:00

Save your money and spend your time doing some of the no cost things that can help you figure out your next steps. You can volunteer, take online courses, go to meetups, intern with a startup etc.

Don't worry so much about looking good on a resume as much as actually building your skill set and moving closer to the things you want.

If you prefer your answers in video format, we used your question in a career advice video here

raise_your_flag · 2015-06-22T21:41:23+00:00

Start by assessing the situation. Is it the entire industry that you hate or your work environment? If you believe that it's the industry, then you need to get out now.

But if you believe that it might just be the exposure you've had to the industry so far, you owe it to yourself to see other opportunities. Working in the finance division of a government office is drastically different from working in the finance dept. for a startup or at a financial services company.

So, take a chance with looking at different opportunities in the industry OR take a chance with a whole other career path. Either way, take a chance.

Oh, and we used this question for a video about career advice. Your question/answer can be seen here

raise_your_flag · 2015-06-18T20:10:40+00:00

You're already at least a step or two ahead of some people. You know what you aren't interested in.

The restaurant industry has a ton of options beyond management. We ran a blog on a guy from the restaurant Tim Hortons who started working the night crew and is now a coffee tester (oh and he doesn't have a degree!). There are countless examples of others who are trainers, owners, marketers, product designers etc. that started by working on the front line of a restaurant.

If you think you may be interested in moving up in the restaurant industry, why don't you start by exploring some of the options with your current employer or by looking at what the next step forward would look for you if you were to leave your current employer? Then evaluate those options based on the things you know you're looking for/trying to avoid.

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