Post by Open To Work Social

Business owners — your growth marketing job descriptions are crippling your hiring. Not because you’re asking for too much. But because you’re asking for the wrong things. Most growth roles read like a checklist of tools, channels, KPIs, and “must-have” experiences. You’re hiring for outputs instead of hiring for thinking. And then we wonder why the candidates all look the same. Here’s a real moment that changed how I hire: When I hired a former brand strategist from Adobe, my business development lead, Marci, asked me: “Joe, why did you tell him his primary job is to tell you no?” My answer was simple: Why would I hire someone with real experience and pedigree… and then tell him how to do his job? If you want a creative growth marketer, stop posting fully defined job descriptions. Post the problem you’re actually trying to solve. Instead of: “We’re looking for a growth marketer with 5+ years in paid media, SEO, analytics, content, lifecycle, CRM, automation…” Try this: “We’re struggling to convert traffic into customers. We don’t know if our positioning is wrong, our story is off, or our funnel is broken. If you think you can diagnose and fix that, tell us how you’d approach it.” Great creatives don’t apply to checklists. They respond to problems worth solving. If your job description looks like a tool inventory…don’t be surprised when your candidates feel interchangeable. Hire thinkers. Invite challengers. And give experienced people permission to tell you when you’re wrong. That’s how real growth happens.