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Job Specifications

Personal Purchase-Confidence OfficerHigh confidence
Employer
A time-poor shopper spending discretionary money they must justify to themselves, with a history of items that did not look like the photos.
Vacancy created by
A need with a deadline — an event, a broken replacement, a gift — or a moment of desire that opens a short, closable window.
Job to be done
Convert an uncertain want into a purchase that will still feel correct a week after it arrives.
Job location
On a phone, in bed, at night, with low patience and a comparison tab already open.
functional hiring criteria
  • — Accurate sizing and specification detail
  • — Reliable, visible delivery timing
  • — Frictionless returns
  • — Total cost visible before checkout
emotional hiring criteria
  • — Photography that shows reality, not styling
  • — Reviews from people with similar needs
  • — No dark-pattern urgency
social hiring criteria
  • — A brand worth being seen with
  • — Packaging and unboxing that reads as considered
  • — Something worth telling someone about
Household Roof Protection ManagerHigh confidence
Employer
A household protecting its largest asset. Financially cautious, time-poor, has no technical ability to inspect the work, and will be judged by a spouse on both the cost and the outcome.
Vacancy created by
A visible failure event — leak stain, missing shingles after a storm, insurance adjuster note, or a pre-sale inspection flag — converts an ignorable maintenance item into an urgent, unavoidable decision.
Job to be done
Return the home to a state of weather-proof safety, with confidence that the money spent was necessary and the work will hold.
Job location
On the roof, while the homeowner is at work and cannot supervise. Research happens at night on a phone; the decision is made at the kitchen table with a spouse, under time pressure from weather or an insurer deadline.
functional hiring criteria
  • — Licensed, insured, and warrantied workmanship
  • — Accurate diagnosis of damage extent
  • — Written, itemised, fixed-scope pricing
  • — Ability to schedule before the next storm
  • — Handles the insurance paperwork
emotional hiring criteria
  • — Does not pressure or create false urgency
  • — Explains the problem in plain language
  • — Answers the phone and communicates during the job
  • — Willing to say 'this can be repaired, not replaced'
social hiring criteria
  • — Recognisable locally, with real named references
  • — Clean, uniformed crew that respects the property
  • — Documentation the homeowner can show a spouse or buyer
  • — Reputation the homeowner is happy to attach their name to
Chief Risk AbsorberHigh confidence
Employer
A person or owner in an unfamiliar, high-stakes situation with asymmetric information, who is embarrassed to ask basic questions and terrified of the meter running.
Vacancy created by
An external event with a deadline — a demand letter, a court date, a regulator, a death, a breakdown in a relationship or a contract — that cannot be ignored any longer.
Job to be done
Transfer an unbounded risk to a competent party, and regain the ability to think about something else.
Job location
In the evening after work, reading a letter twice, searching phrases from it on a phone, before a conversation with a partner or co-founder.
functional hiring criteria
  • — Relevant, provable experience with this exact situation
  • — Clear cost structure
  • — Availability within the deadline
  • — A defined process with next steps
emotional hiring criteria
  • — Explains without jargon or condescension
  • — Responsive — replies within a day
  • — Honest about the weak parts of the case
social hiring criteria
  • — Credible enough to name to a peer or board
  • — Discreet
  • — Presents professionally in front of the other side