“my company is hiring. here’s a link. email me if you want to know more.”

It’s like a haiku.

K.

I’m a UX Designer at Worrell, and the one responsible for this job posting. Thanks for the criticism. Maybe we need to do a better job of explaining our rationale.

Admittedly the reverse job posting is an experiment, and here are three hypotheses that we’re testing (the first two are related).

1). We are not smarter than the pool of applicants.
There’s bound to be someone smarter than us in the crowd. I hope that by eliminating boundaries rather than constructing them, we encourage a bright candidate to impress us with a better way of thinking.

2). Formulas yield predictable results.
Often, that’s the goal, but there is a flip side. Imagine if you ONLY read books suggested by Amazon’s recommendation algorithm. You would read a lot of similar books that advocate similar positions on similar issues. The algorithm doesn’t surprise you. It doesn’t lead you to discover something new. The job description is like the algorithm. It’s not a great tool for creative growth.

3). Experts recognize expertise.
As an employer, if you don’t understand the position you’re trying to fill, then keyword-matching a résumé is the best you can do to qualify an applicant. Fortunately we’re not in that position at Worrell. I’m a UX Designer, I know what the job entails. If an applicant has questions about whether or not they qualify, a Google search will offer better answers more efficiently than I could. There is a pretty good consensus online as to what a UX Designer does.

Since this is an experiment, it could go wrong. If that happens, we’ll do what we always do: assess and iterate. (We actually do that even when things go well.)

Is this risky for the job seeker? Sure, because it’s ambiguous. But you have to deal with a lot of ambiguity working for a design consultancy. At the beginning of every project there’s an anxious moment where we stare down a stunningly empty piece of paper in front of us and ask “what now?” But that’s our job. We here because we’re good at resolving ambiguity in imaginative ways. The reverse job description is asking no more of applicants than our clients ask of us. And that seems… fair.

I remove the ill-fitting HR hat from my head.

Karl.

(Hint: Consider the difference in meaning between the same job titles/descriptions among any number of companies you care to think about. Whoever responds to this solicitation has no idea what this company needs. It’s idiotic. Check my comment on the blog.)

If you want to respond, send them a note asking, “What’s your problem?” My bet: They don’t know.