How to write an effective job requisition

What is a job requisition?
Whether you’re filling a role left vacant by a promoted employee, scaling your organization, or hiring for your executive team — the hiring process often begins with a job requisition.

Generally, there are two kinds of job requisitions: a backfill replaces a vacated position and a new request fills a newly created role.

Typically directed to your human resources and finance departments, a job requisition outlines the ins and outs of the role in question, justifies and specifies its allotted budget, and streamlines the recruitment process.

Learn more by exploring the topics below:

Your job requisition helps to justify the role you’re hiring for. Backfills tend to be straightforward, but filling an entirely new role may require more persuasion. Beyond HR, you may need to convince your finance team, which will assess the financials of the role.

Create organization-wide alignment.
Job requisitions ensure every part of the business — relevant team members, HR, finance, and more — are clearly aligned on the role’s responsibilities, required vetting, allotted salary, and more. This alignment prevents unnecessary bottlenecks, making the hiring process as efficient and transparent as possible.

Fine-tune to find great people.
To find the best person for the role, map out what you’re looking for and keep everyone, including your candidates, in the loop so you can avoid wasting time and money on the wrong people.

Enhance your reputation.
Your organization’s greatest asset is its people. When you hire the right people, your company thrives — and attracts even more great candidates.

Though it varies by organization, the job requisition process typically involves a handful of common steps.

1. Put some time into an initial assessment. Ask yourself why you’re hiring for this role and what gaps it will fill. Consider the why, when, and how many (if you anticipate more than one hire, now or in the future).

2. Begin writing your requisition. If you have one, fill out your organization’s job requisition form. Outline the specifics of the role, like its responsibilities and pay. If you don’t have a form, explore the template toward the bottom of this page. If you have one, fill out your organization’s job requisition form. Outline the specifics of the role, like its responsibilities and pay. If you don’t have a form, explore the template toward the bottom of this page.

3. Submit your form for review. Send the completed form to HR, finance, and any other relevant recipients for them to review. They may approve the request or send it back for revisions.

4. Begin recruiting candidates. Once the job requisition is approved and finalized, your team can dive into the hiring process.

Ready to write your job requisition? With the right approach, it’s easy. Be sure to include the following information:

• Day-to-day responsibilities
• The relevant team and hiring manager
• Minimum and preferred candidate qualifications
• The start date
• Compensation and benefits
• Role type (full-time, part-time, contract)
• What the hiring process looks like
• Why the role is necessary

Your job requisition form simplifies the writing and evaluation processes. It also ensures you supply all the essential details, minimizing unnecessary back-and-forth once you start.

If you run into challenges along the way, perhaps you’re missing key information or having trouble delineating the why. Communicate with your team members so you don’t leave out any important details.

How long does the job requisition process take?
It depends on the speed of your organization, as well as the complexity of the role. Once you have all necessary information and a standardized form at the ready, you can dive right into the process and help ensure its efficiency.

When writing a job requisition, what mistakes should I avoid?
If your job requisition is unnecessarily complex or jargon-heavy, teams might have trouble understanding the value of the role. Additionally, be sure to have a budgeting brainstorm. Your proposed compensation should take into account your budget and candidate expectations.

What’s the difference between a job requisition and a job posting?
A job requisition is internal and should contain all the information your organization needs to kick off the hiring process. A job posting is external, although informed by the job requisition.

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