6-9-14
Views expressed are purely opinion based on interpretation of this public job opening:
http://company.wizards.com/about/careers/director-digital-game-development-job-renton-wa-us?careers-view=1
To Whom It May Concern at Hasbro/WOTC:
You’ve recently publicly advertised a position opening: Director, Digital Game Development Job. Under the “Education and Training” section is stated: “This is a complex position that takes up to six months to master.” What precisely do you mean by this statement? There are of course many interpretations, however, some of the more humorous ones imply the following messages to your applicants, “After 6 months of work, you will have learned any and everything that you need to learn [in this position, thus you can begin doing nothing and asking for a promotion]…”
Second, there is no mention of salary range/benefits/stock options/compensation of any sort, however, there is plenty of mention of ‘responsibilities’ [translation: what you guys need and don’t have] and your own interests [“budget of $6-8M, Indirect impact of $150M+]. The astute and observant applicant should realize that this ‘position opening description’ could imply that HAS/WOTC wants to hire someone to help them make upwards of $150M, yet does not even bother to mention [in the entire 1 page document] any compensation/benefits/equity whatsoever [“competitive salaries and great benefits” means nothing obviously].
So, the person to fill this role is given a budget of $6-8M to work with, and expected to make an “indirect impact” of $150M with it. Clearly, I’d want at least half of $150M to make you $150M in order for that to remotely be construed as fair. If this wasn’t enough of a deterrent for those qualified, what about a complete absence of any mention within the responsibilities/duties section regarding the shareholders interests [HAS stock price, etc.]. Is that simply to be implied, or is that just something that you expect the ‘Director’ not to be held accountable for? Given the scope of this position, I presume that this person likely answers to some VP/P/CEO/Shareholder, one who himself has equity. Given the inherent nature of just about any modern organization, I would say that making the boss (majority shareholders), and customer happy is paramount to success.
The point is, don’t make a job description talking about suits and irrelevant stuff [‘humorous’ attempts to make it seem like a ‘fun’ job] while withholding critically relevant details, because it makes you sound desperate and greedy beyond words. There is a very likely chance that the vast majority of people that you want in this position will not proceed any further [no one with those specified qualifications will click ‘apply’, and anyone who does is lying about their qualifications, or mentally sadistic] when you post such an absurd position opening ad. Perhaps HAS/WOTC should also inquire and publicly inform about a ‘position opening writer opening’? “…and the excitement of working in a creative organization” – translates to “we need someone creative, with brains, to help us make $150M,” in my head.
Director, Digital Game Development Job (Renton, WA, US) | company.wizards.com
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