Needle in a haystack: formulate a new job position to attract the right candidates.

• Author: Stewart, Heather
• Position: EntrepreneurEdge

You need a new employee. Your team is stretched thin and it's time to bring on someone to relieve the workload. But what, exactly, will the new employee do? How will he or she fit into your company and help it meet its objectives?

Before posting a hastily written job description, companies should ensure they have a clear plan for the new position.

Define the Position

Ancestry.com has been growing at a terrific rate over the past few years. The company has 1,200 employees globally and will likely add about 100 people this year. As director of global talent acquisition for Ancestry.com, Suzy Jessen often works with hiring managers to develop new positions.

The first step, says Jessen, is to thoroughly define the position. "The manager has to be able to first define on-the-job success before any other step in the process can take place--they have to know what they are looking for."

She likes to ask managers, "What's the most important thing the person you're hiring for this position needs to do in order for you to know you've hired a great person with the right skill-set?"

At Domo, a rapidly growing company that provides a cloud-based executive management platform, Vice President of Human Resources Cathy Donahoe takes a similar approach. She holds a kickoff meeting with the hiring manager when developing new positions, and she asks the manager to "list the top seven to 10 things this person is actually going to do."

Give it a Title

The right job title is more important than you may think. "Choose a title that will resonate with the marketplace," says Donahoe. If the candidates you are seeking will be looking for "administrative assistant" job postings, don't call the position "secretary" or "office help." "Create the right job title to attract the right people," says Donahoe.

Write the Job Description

The job description typically spells out job duties and desired qualifications; it will also contain information about pay grade, compensation and other human resource details.

Jessen prefers to think about the job description as a "performance profile." She says, "Traditional job descriptions that emphasize skills, experiences...