If you have looked at job advertisements recently, you have probably encountered a list of impossible expectations. This is not merely a problem of the moment; it may become a serious issue in the future, too.
Advertisements packed with excessive demands and unrealistic workloads can be intimidating. Experienced professionals may respond with a polite smile 😊 I do wonder whether the people compiling these lists genuinely believe in them.
Some Job Ads Read Like Comedy Scripts
I could include many examples here. Usually, I would make a comment and move on. But some advertisements have become so absurd that I wanted to write down and share my view.
We expect specialists to do their best within the responsibilities they own. Becoming a specialist means gaining experience, taking part in projects and learning the work from the inside.
Some companies want to put one ingredient into the kitchen and get 10 different dishes out of it. The result rarely tastes particularly good, at least in 8 of them...😊
Position: E-commerce Staff Member
Required qualifications and responsibilities:
- Tracking products.
- Uploading products to the website and preparing their images.
- Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
- A research mindset and commitment to personal development.
- Expertise in SEM, SEO and social media.
- Running and improving advertising campaigns.
- Developing and implementing organic search strategies.
- Managing social media accounts and planning visuals.
- Overseeing and managing e-commerce operations.
Does this person actually exist? :)
With that workload, expecting time for research and development seems rather optimistic.
These advertisements may arise because:
- The employer lacks recruitment experience.
- The employer wants a perfect candidate, even if they could not meet those standards themselves.
- Or perhaps the role is simply imaginary.
Inexperience, Limited Capability or an Attempt to Do Better
An employer may be inexperienced at hiring or trying to improve without knowing how. Not every business has a strong HR team or an external recruitment adviser. In many places, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, people with little or no experience of recruitment or writing job descriptions take responsibility. We sometimes see the same issue even in companies with an HR department.
How can a team that cannot plan resources properly meet the company's needs?
That is why thoughtful processes matter so much. The department responsible for talent and allocating work has a fundamental role in how a business functions.
Expecting a Candidate More Perfect Than Yourself
Employers can be determined to find perfection, even when they are far from perfect themselves. They refuse to settle for second best and create an inflated list of requirements.
Peter Cappelli discusses this issue in his book Why Good People Can't Get Jobs.
Sometimes job advertisements also exist to gather CVs into a pool for later use.
The strongest candidate is not the one who tries to fit every demand. It is the person whose expertise brings success. Expertise does not develop by adding a little of every job to one role.
What Large Companies Build Their Success On
Do large companies employ hundreds or thousands of people because they are already big, or do they employ those people to help the company grow?
A company's scale is not simply its headcount. It can be understood through how its people represent and develop the brand locally and globally.
When you coordinate the right expertise, relevant responsibilities and the right team, the system you want to see begins to work.
Relationships Between Departments
As businesses become more digital, demands and requirements multiply. Trying to place every additional burden on one person starts a chain of problems. The losses go beyond money: misunderstanding the process, wasting time, giving competitors an advantage and making further operational mistakes can snowball.
HR and R&D have played a major part in the steps that established companies took to survive and develop. Finding the right candidate and placing them in the right role is essential to progress. But how much importance does your business give this department? The answer, and how you put it into practice, both shape the outcome.
An e-commerce company should not run every part of its operation through a single employee.
Products: categorizing items, uploading them to the site, updating stock, monitoring prices and discounts, and answering customer questions.
Shipping: approving orders for dispatch, packing and handing them to the carrier, tracking delivery and resolving carrier problems, and handling returns or exchanges.
Performance & sales: planning advertising to increase sales, identifying customer needs in particular products or categories, reviewing baskets, re-engaging people who abandoned items, converting those opportunities, evaluating competitors and closing gaps.
Social media: adapting the brand to its social audience, interacting actively, running campaigns on the platforms and planning advertising.
SEO: industry and competitor analysis, category and product-page improvements, technical audits, content production, off-page SEO, and better mobile and desktop experiences.
There are many more details I have not listed.
So why would someone capable of all this want to work for a company offering minimum wage, or an average salary of ₺2,500–₺3,500?
A person with every one of those skills could find a product and establish their own business.
Do not build the role on fantasy, or sell that fantasy to others.
Do not expect someone working under those conditions to perform well. The fault lies with the business and the people demanding this workload, rather than the employee.
Note:
If the economic realities make it difficult to employ a team of this size, apply the same empathy to the individual. Expecting one person to coordinate every task successfully over the long term creates an equally difficult situation.
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