Design the Job to Fit the Person
Stop hunting unicorns against made-up job descriptions; reshape roles around the good people you find
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 90%
Moesta's counterintuitive hiring and retention approach: job descriptions are invented lists of tasks a manager doesn't want to do, and matching resumes to them is hunting a unicorn nobody perfectly fits. Instead, write descriptions as experiences, market roles to people who haven't raised their hand, and when you find a genuinely good person, reshape the job to fit them rather than forcing them to fit the job. Retention follows the same logic: keep asking what progress means to each person and adapt the role so they keep making it.
Origin
Bob Moesta with Ethan Bernstein and Michael Horn in 'Job Moves,' inverting Jobs-to-be-Done so employees hire companies rather than companies hiring employees.
Core principles
- 01Job descriptions are made up — lists of what a manager didn't want to do
- 02Reframe from finding a person to fit the job to designing a job that fits the person
- 03People who make progress stay; people who stop making progress leave
- 04Better experiences can substitute for higher pay — and don't count on people staying forever
- 05Overpaying makes people conservative and fearful of losing the bonus, which kills innovation
How to run it
- 1
Unpack the job description into specifics
Rewrite vague requirements into concrete needs. Replace '5 years experience' with what someone with five years actually knows; replace 'Excel, PowerPoint, Word' with what the person will DO with them.
Pro tip 'Five years experience' on an entry-level role signals laziness and screens out a perfect three-year candidate who never applies.
Watch out Listing features of people (years, degrees, tools) instead of experiences filters out great non-obvious fits.
- 2
Write the description as experiences
Frame the role as the experiences someone will have: the context, what progress looks like, how they'll be rewarded — and market it to people who'd want that, not just those already job-hunting.
Pro tip Most people wait for candidates to raise their hand, but they've already left their job by then; a well-framed role attracts people who weren't yet looking.
- 3
Run candidates through pushes/pulls and energy drivers
In interviews, use the forces: why are you leaving, what are you looking for, what are your energy drivers and drains, what are you good at and what do you suck at.
Pro tip An answer like 'I work too much' to 'what do you suck at' means they haven't done the self-awareness homework.
- 4
Reshape the role to fit good people
When you find a good-but-imperfect person, find a way to bring them in and redesign the job around their strengths and energy — then keep adapting it over time so they keep making progress.
Pro tip Moesta pays fairly but modestly with big bonuses so people can save toward their own goals; he added coaching offerings he'd never planned because an employee wanted them.
Watch out Overpaying breeds conservative, boat-not-rocking behavior focused on protecting the bonus rather than doing the right work.
In the wild
An employee wanted to do more coaching, so Moesta brought in three coaching clients and reshaped her role. She loved it and it gave her more energy.
→ He adapted the business to keep her making progress rather than losing her.
When the aspiring-founder candidate accepted a lower-paying role to learn, the founder made him chief of staff and set a two-year runway — literally reframing the job to fit the person.
→ Both sides got a role designed around the individual's actual goals.
Common mistakes
Hiring people like yourself
It creates a large blind spot; you want teammates energized by the work that drains you.
Overpaying to retain
It makes people fearful and conservative, protecting the bonus instead of doing what they should — which suppresses innovation.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and hiring managers who keep losing good people or can't find 'perfect' candidates
Not ideal for
Highly regulated or rigidly standardized roles where job scope legally cannot be reshaped per person
From the transcript
“the job descriptions are made up they're literally just made up”
“if you actually reframe this and say how do I get the the job to fit the person”
“when you overpay people what happens is that that they actually become more and more scared that they they'll lose it and then they become…”
“five years experience what I will tell you is that's one of the worst statements you can put on any job”
“talk about the experiences you want people to have to come into your company”
From the episode
How to find work you love
Bob Moesta (Jobs-to-be-Done co-creator, author of "Job Moves