What Is a Job Requisition and How To Write One
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Krista Hillis
Discover the value of a job requisition and how to create one.
The recruitment process can be challenging, involving many considerations and steps. Whether an employee recently left or you need to expand your team to meet new business goals, a job requisition is the first step in talent acquisition. Once approved, the hiring process begins.
You will optimize your recruitment strategy and reduce time-to-hire by fine-tuning each step, including your job requisition criteria. As you collect data and gain insights, you can continually improve this process to enhance the candidate experience and boost retention rates.
This guide will help you do just that.
What is a job requisition?
A job requisition is a formal, internal document used by department managers when requesting the hire of a new employee. This document or form helps identify a new or vacated position that must be filled. That role can be a full-time or part-time role and may be permanent or temporary. This form is passed onto the lead manager or the HR team, depending on how the company is structured.
An example would be Susan in marketing—as the company grows, her team of four can no longer handle the daily task load. She is concerned about dropping productivity levels, so she talks to her manager about a potential new hire. Susan then fills out a job requisition form to kickstart the process.
Why is a job requisition important?
The HR department uses a job requisition form to communicate the needs of a department or team more effectively. This process is critical in filling key roles using an efficient, cost-effective method. This approach also clearly outlines and defines the tasks and requested qualifications associated with the role—ensuring the right candidate is selected.
A job requisition can:
Improve clarity concerning the type of role, salary range, and other key considerations.
Justify that a particular role is needed so that managers can determine the impact of that role in achieving business objectives.
Provide a paper trail to see how certain roles have evolved so that you can make improvements.
Create a clear, detailed template containing the necessary information to source candidates if you outsource your recruitment needs.
In addition, expectations are set for the hiring requisition process, ensuring a more efficient, streamlined approach with each additional hire. Throughout the process, especially when digitized, you can collect invaluable data. Recruiting analytics are crucial when measuring your recruitment efforts so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
Some recruitment KPIs to track include:
Number of qualified candidates
Time-to-hire
Submit-to-interview ratio
Offer acceptance rate
Cost per hire
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What are the different types of job requisitions?
There are two primary types of job requisitions:
- New: This job requisition focuses on a new role—one that your company does not currently have but needs in response to growth, internal changes, etc.
- Backfill: In this case, you’ll aim to fill a pre-existing, recently vacant role due to an employee leaving the company, getting a promotion, going on maternity leave, etc.
How to write a job requisition?
A requisition form should include some standard elements. You can adjust these based on what makes sense for your company and desired position.
A proposed job title for the new role (the final title will be decided during the vacancy intake phase).
The name of the department that requires the new role.
The hiring manager who is involved in the process (including their name/ID).
The purpose or intention of the role and the requisition reason—such as a newly created position or a role to fill because of retirement, promotion, maternity leave, etc.
Approximate salary range and any signing bonus, if applicable.
The desired job start date, whether immediate or months down the road.
The duration of the position (permanent vs. temporary) and contract type (employee or contract work).
Required qualifications (education or minimum experience level).
Plenty of templates are available online—you may also have access to a job requisition template within your recruitment software.
Depending on your organization, this form will be a part of your applicant tracking system (ATS)or human resource information system (HRIS). The advantage of implementing this form into an online system is that it creates an easy-to-manage workflow. Also, the data you collect is invaluable for future data-driven decision-making.
Tips for creating an effective job requisition
Want to nail your job requisition strategy? Focus on the following steps.
Common mistakes to avoid when writing a job requisition
To ensure a smooth, optimized hiring process, there is one area you'll need to focus on. Don't make this common, often costly, mistake.
Ignoring the power of job requisition-related metrics
Not tracking metrics associated with the job requisition process, such as the time-to-fill rate, is a significant mistake. Addressing key metrics in your job requisition ensures the correct data is collected and analyzed. It's also important to do your research to understand benchmarks—both within your company and the industry.
The average time to fill a job requisition is 44 days.[1] While this may vary depending on several variables, this baseline period can help you determine how efficient your recruitment process is. If you're way off, you may need to improve efficiency for future hires, especially when aiming to expand your team of talent and retain the top performers.
There is a talent war that needs to be considered in the coming years. The pandemic changed how employees view their role in the workforce, which may influence how you approach the hiring process. Research by Gartner shows that 65% of employees say the pandemic has made them rethink the role of work in their lives—and the time to fill a role increased by 18% from 2020 to 2021.[2]
Bottom line: You must keep your finger on the pulse, leveraging data to guide your decisions. If something isn't working, you must pivot—welcome feedback from your team and potential candidates.
It's time to optimize your job requisition process
Whether you are improving your current job requisition or starting from scratch, you must understand the importance of this document. Focus on the most critical elements and prioritize effective collaboration. To guide your recruitment journey, be sure to check out the following Capterra resources:
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