Closing the “Aspiration Gap”

by Dan DeMaioNewton
Monster Government Solutions USAJOBS Program Manager

	How Many of the 17,164 Jobs on USAJOBS Mention:
	Aspiration	10
	Inspiring	33
	Excel	146
	Achieve	369
	Courage	3
	Passion	5
	“Make a Difference”	9

Do a search on USAJOBS for the keywords Inspiring, Excel, Achieve, Courage, Passion, Aspiration, and “Make a Difference” and you’ll find the “Aspiration Gap”: the difference between what’s written in the job announcement and the potential the job truly offers to job seekers. The Aspiration Gap is critical because it directly and significantly impacts the quantity and quality of applicants to your position. When a potential candidate looks at your position, they’re trying to connect their experience, skills, and aspirations to it. It’s a similar mental process that recruiters and hiring managers will apply later when trying to connect the resume, KSAs, skills, and interviews with the position to determine the right candidate.

The poet Kahlil Gibran once said, “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do.” When I talk with people whose careers are in public service and listen to why they came and stayed, within the first five minutes an altruistic spirit to make a difference and contribute to society arises. I know that there are many to whom this may not apply, but when you look at the best and the brightest minds in government, this is a trait that doesn’t appear as frequently in the private sector.

Stand Out: Outstanding!

When Monster Government Solutions and OPM launched the redesigned USAJOBS in August 2003, we sought to create a leading recruitment site with functionality that helps connect those attracted to public service to your jobs in a meaningful way.

As an exercise, take 10 minutes one day and just browse through the job announcements on USAJOBS. In the legendary book, “Web Pages that Suck,” Vince Flanders and Michael Willis show how you can learn good Web design by looking at bad design. How do your announcements compare to others? Do they stand out? Are they truly better? What are you doing to differentiate your positions and your agency to attract the most highly qualified candidates to your jobs?

Does your agency view the posting of jobs as an exercise in compliance? If so, you’re missing out on a tremendous opportunity. Your job announcements “sell” the vision of your agency as well as for careers in public service. What’s the message you’re communicating in your job announcements? From job seeker usability testing done prior to the August 2003 USAJOBS relaunch, the messages were “bureaucratic,” “frustrating,” “complicated,” “legalese,” “confusing,” frustrating,” and “discouraging.” Looking at USAJOBS today, there is a light beginning to emerge from this darkness, and the opportunity is ripe for you to benefit.

The USAJOBS team of Office of Personnel Management and Monster Government Solutions have delivered, and will continue to deliver, tools to help close the Aspiration Gap. Take as examples the recent addition of the new tabbed job announcement display, the new USAJOBS Job Builder, new USAJOBS Design, and the best Spell Check functionality in all eRecruitment. But, just as a hammer alone doesn’t build a house, the tools alone are insufficient to close the Aspiration Gap.

We Need Your Help.

Re-examine your job announcements; bring them in alignment with the true nature and vision of the position and your agency’s mission and goals. This will help attract the right candidates for your positions. Rise to the challenge!

To close the Aspiration Gap:

• Take advantage of all tools, especially the new USAJOBS Job Builder, Tabbed Job Announcement Display, and Spell Check
• Create effective Job Summaries for all job announcements
• Integrate your agency marketing and mission into your announcements
• Eliminate the use of negative flags such as “YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED…” “Failure” and “DO NOT APPLY…”
• Accentuate the positive “In order to be considered you must…” You need to apply…”
• Convey the spirit of the role along with the required elements
• Use formatting effectively
• Be concise
• Be as brief as possible

The Best Job Announcements

Look at these jobs for ideas on how to do it right:

Clinical Pharmacist: Your chance to make a difference
Electronics Technician: Logo and marketing message at the start of the job summary demonstrate integrated branding.
Executive Director: Mission in the Overview and bulleted key requirements create a low Aspiration Gap

Compare these examples with some examples of how private sector companies integrate their market branding into their job announcements:

Harley Davidson: C#/VB.NET Developers
Apple Computer: Mac Specialist
Jordan’s Furniture: Quality Control Inspector
IKEA: Home Furnishings Consultant
Monster: VP of Customer Services
Disney: Director, Media and Technologies

You can fail to attract the best and brightest. If you do you’ll be failing to achieve what you are truly capable of, rightfully deserve, and may in doing so be reinforcing the cynicism of a generation.

After doing the exercise above, send me any links to job announcements that close the Aspiration Gap, or even those that you believe perpetuate it.

For additional information, you should contact Dan DeMaioNewton, Monster Government Solutions USAJOBS Program Manager at dan.demaionewton@monster.com.