Must-Haves are the critical, non-negotiable skills or qualifications that a candidate must possess in order to be considered for a role. These are defined by the Employer when creating the JobCast, and they set the bar for what a candidate needs to bring to the table.
How to Respond to Must-Haves:
When you submit a candidate, you’ll have the opportunity to explain how their skills align with the Must-Haves for the role. It’s important to be as specific and clear as possible to help the Employer understand why your candidate is a perfect fit.
Here are key tips for responding effectively:
Be Specific: Clearly demonstrate how the candidate meets each Must-Have skill. Focus on specific examples and experiences from the candidate’s background that directly relate to the required skills.
Use Quantitative Data: Employers love numbers and hard data. Whenever possible, include specific metrics to highlight your candidate’s achievements or contributions.
Focus on Results: Describe how your candidate’s actions led to positive outcomes. Highlight the impact of their work in measurable terms.
Examples of Strong Responses:
Weak Response: Managed a budget to plan large-scale events for students.
Strong Response: Managed a $12,000 budget to plan large-scale events for 2,500 students, resulting in a 30% increase in student engagement.Weak Response: Compiled a pitch deck for buyout of automotive company.
Strong Response: Compiled a 44-page pitch deck for the buyout of a $53 million automotive company, which contributed to the successful acquisition.Weak Response: Wrote articles on entrepreneurship and technology.
Strong Response: Wrote 8 articles on entrepreneurship and technology, generating 107,000 page views, 8,003 likes, and 3,723 tweets.
Why Specificity and Quantification Matter:
By using specific, data-driven examples, you help the Employer visualize the candidate's impact and relevance to the role. It also shows that you've paid attention to the Must-Haves and can effectively match candidates to the job requirements.
Summary:
To respond effectively to Must-Haves:
Showcase relevant experience and skills.
Use specific, quantitative examples to back up your claims.
Highlight the impact your candidate has made in similar roles. Being clear, concise, and results-oriented in your responses will increase the chances that your candidate stands out as a strong match for the role.