Hiring new talent is critical to growing your business, but putting together the right team can be daunting.
You must justify the need for each position, and determine its purpose, requirements, and budget. Then you have to lather, rinse, repeat every time you create a new role or want to backfill a vacant one.
Job requisitions ease the recruitment and hiring process, and set the foundation for a successful candidate search.
What is a job requisition?
A job requisition is an internal document that recruiters use to request the hiring of new employees.
When a team wants to add or replace an employee, the manager will fill out a job requisition form, which typically includes information about the role, the duties, timeline, and budget.
For instance, George Smith, a sales executive in a security company, sees his sales team struggling to keep up with demand. So he talks with the sales team manager about hiring more people. The manager then fills out a job requisition stating:
- The reasons for expanding the team
- Whether the position is part time or full time
- The requirements of the digital marketing role
- When he expects the person to start
- The budget for the role (salary range, commissions, and benefits)
After showing it to George Smith, the manager submits it to the HR department. Two weeks later, the sales department’s HR partner forwards a formal approval for the role, and the recruiter calls to prepare for the intake and hiring process.
Yongming Song, CEO of live poll app Live Poll for Slides, uses job requisition forms because they simplify creating accurate job postings.
“It also provides a paper trail for posting. If I need any justification for the procedures used to fill a position, I can refer to the reference materials for satisfaction.”
Importance of job requisitions
The job requisition process is helpful as it:
- Encourages thoughtful hiring, since you have to justify the need for the role
- Provides recruiters with background on your needs and what’s expected of the potential candidate
- Helps companies formalize their recruitment processes and ensure fairness, transparency, and consistency
- Keeps a paper trail of managers’ expectations of the ideal candidate
- Confirms compliance with local and national labor and financial regulations
Job requisition vs. job posting
Both job requisition and job posting are a part of the recruitment process and are sometimes used interchangeably — but the two have different roles.
Here are the main distinguishing factors between a job requisition and job posting:
- Type: A job requisition is an internal document or online form, while a job posting is an external advertisement posted to a job board, newspaper, or company website.
- Purpose/use: A job requisition is used to request, explain the need for, and get approval to hire an employee, while a job posting makes the opening known outside the organization to attract potential candidates.
- Information: Job requisitions include information about the job and budget, while job postings contain information about the company and elements of the job, including minimum qualifications and benefits.
- People involved: A job requisition is created by a department manager and submitted to their supervisor, and reviewed by HR for final approval. Job postings are based on the job description and usually involve the recruiter and hiring manager.
- Timing: A job requisition is usually created before publishing a job publicly, while a job posting is created after HR or leadership approves the requisition.
How the job requisition process works
The job requisition process varies from company to company, but the principles are similar.
Steps for creating a job requisition
1. Identify the need
What roles need filling in your organization and why? Conduct research to learn whether it’s worth your company’s budget. For example, you can ask yourself:
- Where will the new role have the most impact?
- Will there be any negative impact if the role is left unfilled?
- How has the role evolved over time?
- What are the important skills and experience needed for the role?
- What’s the average wage in the market for the position?
At this stage, it’s generally the hiring manager identifying the need.
2. Fill out a job requisition form
Use a job requisition form to note relevant information about a role, such as the department, formal qualifications, timeline, and budget.
Then write a compelling business case to convince the leadership (HR or the finance department) why you need the new hire. Incorporate the company’s goals, how the role will impact business outcomes, and any consequences of not filling the position soon.
Typical elements of a job requisition form include:
- Job or position title: Designation for which you’re hiring
- Name of manager: Hiring manager raising the requisition
- Department: Team, project, or department the role belongs to
- Type of employment: Whether the position is temporary or permanent (full time, part time, contract, internship, etc.)
- Requisition type: Is the requisition for a new role or a backfill?
- Justification for the new hire: Business case for hiring, explaining the impact on business goals and KPIs
- Job description: Detailed description of the role (responsibilities, qualifications, experience)
- Fill date or timeline: Expected start date for the position
- Number of openings: Number of vacancies you’re hiring for
- Budget: Proposed salary band and perks or benefits
3. Involve stakeholders
Managing job requisitions is a team effort involving different stakeholders. In most cases, they include the finance team, the HR team, and senior executives or department heads.
These teams have the hiring data and requisition approval tools needed to move the process forward.
If you’re the hiring manager, get all stakeholders on board, so it’s easier to approve your request and expedite the hiring process. Emphasize the outcomes of the position, provide clear goals and KPIs, and show what they should expect from the role.
Once you complete the requisition form, send it to your department’s supervisor, who will forward it to the HR and/or finance department for approval.
4. Start the hiring process
After everyone gives the OK, the form goes back to the hiring manager for signing, then hiring can begin.
You can share the post with your recruitment team or hire an external recruitment agency to do it.
What is an evergreen job requisition?
An evergreen job requisition is a requisition that remains open or active all the time. An organization or team might keep positions open indefinitely to find the right candidates or fill openings as they occur.
Processes like these dramatically shorten the time to hire, which is beneficial to businesses.
Example roles that may have an evergreen job requisition include sales, customer service, and other high-volume positions with high turnover rates. It’s also ideal to use if the role is difficult to fill.
Evergreen job requisitions provide a consistent source of candidates to hire, so you’re less likely to face extended vacancy periods.
By maintaining an evergreen requisition and storing applications, your talent pipeline is filled — so you don’t have to start the recruitment process from scratch.
Job requisition examples
To give you an idea of what a job requisition looks like and what to expect, here’s a sample job requisition form from Tandem HR:
It’s a simple job requisition document that covers all the important elements, which you can emulate if you’re starting out or growing your business.
If you have a larger organization, you can use a more detailed form, such as the one Ohio State University uses, or craft your own. Alternatively, create an online job requisition template like this one by Doane University for easier workflow management.
Whether you’re creating a new role or filling a recently vacant position, knowing how to put together a job requisition request is the first step to talent acquisition. Filling it out carefully with the right information can increase your chances of getting it approved, finding suitable candidates, and setting your team up for success.
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