Job Descriptions and Halloween Costumes

The calendar has turned to late October (where did the year go??!!) and the Halloween season is in full force. With cooler temperatures and changing leaves across the Northern Hemisphere the focus of getting the perfect costume has been made by many. This is many people’s favorite season and increasingly I have seen a trend where job descriptions and roles are also embracing the flavor of the Halloween season by changing their appearance. I want to dive deeper into the rethinking of job descriptions. Focusing on how to highlight skills which are becoming increasingly desirable to improve the storytelling you can outline for internal performance reviews and during job searches. I will provide a method to focus on enhancing the way you deliver your skills and how to highlight the type of soft skills employers are increasingly looking for.

While the most popular human costumes as outlined by the Visual Capitalist, Ranked: The Most Popular Halloween Costumes of 2023 (visualcapitalist.com), include Barbie, Princesses, and Spider Man. Another surprising area of the working world is getting involved in changing appearances and I figured I would use a unique tie in with the Halloween season to dive into job descriptions, roles and responsibilities. There is a range of forces at play influencing changes including technological changes moving faster than the naming convention of specific roles. The desire for companies to tailor their operations and roles to their specific needs, and industry trends shape the language and offerings firms choose to have.

For many people Halloween provides the chance to take on an alter ego and dress up for one night, while organizations may be in it for the long haul with altered roles and responsibilities. Systems constantly change and being able to adjust and adapt is a crucial skill set which allows an individual to be successful and stand out in the crowd. The inspiration for this blog post was an article by Jesse Fewell from the Scrum Alliance entitled “Avoid Agile Layoffs.”

I enjoyed how the main points were outlined via three key pivot points which were easy to follow. This begins with Pivot Point 1: “Broadcast Your Bottom Line” which focuses on the power of storytelling and gaining the course of your own career by providing factual and relevant information to stand out and gain buy in from stakeholders and sponsors. The second pivot is “Pursue the Pi-Shaped Skills Portfolio” which advocates the development of multiple skill sets so employees on teams have a wide range of competencies with at least two core areas where they stand out as experts.  The point that resonated with me the most was Fewell’s third pivot point: “Bring Your Old Skills to a New Role” because this pivot allows people to utilize the skills they have and stand out by sharing the unique experiences and perspective they have.

 For me this is best showcased by describing a situation where you work in a particular manner to provide value as part of a greater team. Using a sports analogy Patrick Mahomes could showcase his skills as a quarterback and leader by saying “As the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs I lead the offense so we can go out and perform and be the best football team possible with the greatest chance of winning.” I challenge all of you to do an audit on recent work efforts that you have been a part of to derive some concrete examples of tasks you have contributed to work efforts.

Now the fun part. Think about some tasks which are core to your job description and the tasks which you complete that may not be definitively listed in your job description. This provides the unique opportunity to showcase your skills both following the clear structures of a particular role and your ability to lean into increasingly desirable soft skills. This story telling and the ability to add additional contextual information will turn good workers into great workers. Take time to view your career as a contributor on a greater team because much like the Barbies and Spider Men who will be walking around on Halloween changes to job descriptions are here to stay. Regardless of what you decide to do for Halloween be safe and have a great night knowing that you alone can shape and define your career with the experience and ability to craft your own professional story.