Recruiting qualified and competent applicants for a position in your organization or business requires dynamic skills. You’ll need to ensure your job posting stands out from hundreds of others and attracts the right applicants. Getting qualified people to apply to your company allows your hiring team to focus solely on suitable applicants. In return, these quality applicants are more likely to deliver on the company’s core values and meet objectives once hired. An attractive job description should highlight the required skills, experience, company’s culture, mission, values, and more. Here is how to write the perfect job description to attract the ideal applicants.
You can also check out our free guide on how to write job descriptions that boost applicant flow! It features industry insights, key elements, and helpful templates.
Writing a Great Job Description: A Step By Step Guide
1. It All Starts With Writing an Accurate Job Title
You need to get the job title right in your description because this is the first thing everyone sees. Most people usually search for specific keywords in job titles, so page placement and rankings are critical to getting your job posting in front of the ideal applicants. If the job title is unclear, non-descriptive, or even out-of-the-box, qualified applicants may be confused or fail to see your posting.
Keep the title clear, concise, and consistent with other market job titles. Ensure that the title reflects industry standards and your organization’s culture.
2. Create an Engaging Overview of the Job
Provide a brief description of the general expectation for the open position. It should also highlight the job’s main function and its contribution to your organization’s objectives. Remember to state what makes your company stand out among others. Your overview should highlight key items that articulate your company’s culture. By being thorough in the job overview, you make it easy for the applicant to identify the type of company they’re getting involved with to further pursue their career and experience.
3. Be Concise About Job Responsibilities
Provide a concise description of the roles and responsibilities involved with the job. These should clearly depict the fundamental nature of the job, which usually occupies a significant proportion of the employee’s time. You may also want to emphasize responsibilities that are unique to your organization.
Highlighting the day-to-day activities of the position will help applicants understand your work environment and culture. However, don’t make the mistake of making long and tedious lists that put off the readers. Make your job description exciting and fun to read by only including necessary information. It also helps to incorporate a “why” explanation behind the day-to-day activities. This communicates that you have a specific purpose behind the tasks. Sharing this will show them how the position provides value to the team.
4. State Skills and Qualifications
This section states the required skills for applicants, level of experience, and the necessary competency for the job. Besides stating the required certifications and technical skills, you may also include soft skills, such as problem-solving, personality traits, and the ability to communicate fluently. Don’t be tempted to list every requirement you envision. Keep the list concise. Including many unnecessary skills and qualifications can dissuade qualified applicants.
Using different tools can help you save time in this step. Sprockets’ applicant matching solutions create a profile based on top-performing talent at your company. As a result, you can find applicants with the necessary experience, competency, and soft skills for the job. Additionally, their personality assessment software compares and contrasts traits of applicants based on the qualities of employees at the company.
5. Talk About the Company and the Working Relationship
It’s best to assume that applicants don’t know as much about your organization or business. You, therefore, need to tell them about your company’s goals, vision, and mission. You can also provide other relevant and valuable details, such as annual sales, number of employees, and branch locations.
It’s also important to explain the working relationships as well as the lines of communication for the employee. Inform applicants about who they will report to and help them understand their hierarchy within the company. Constructive working relationships are essential for employee well-being and integration.
6. Sell Your Job
Competent and qualified applicants usually require compelling reasons to choose your job over other opportunities. Describe key benefits that come with the position. However, don’t oversell it in your job description. If your job description misconstrues expectations, it will negatively impact workplace culture and employee retention.
7. Include Salary Details
While you may not provide actual salary figures for the job, provide a competitive salary range in your job description. Qualified applicants need to see the salary range for motivation to apply. Every applicant has expectations of what they would like to get paid. If you fail to provide the salary details, you risk wasting time interviewing applicants looking for higher salaries than you’re willing to offer.
8. Give Applicants a Call to Action and Contact Information
Use a call to action at the end of your job description to get potential applicants rolling in. This drives applicants to take the next step and apply for the job. You may also provide up-to-date contact information for applicants to reach you if they have inquiries. While some organizations only provide their email addresses, adding a phone number could be a great addition.
Post Jobs for Free With Sprockets
Having a clear and concise job description helps your business attract competent and qualified applicants. A complementary aspect of writing the perfect job description is posting it in the right places to maximize visibility. With Sprockets, you can post your job listings for free on Google, Facebook, ZipRecruiter, Snagajob, CareerBliss, Recruit.net, and Adzuna from within the platform.
Schedule a brief demo today to learn how Sprockets can streamline your hiring process and ultimately improve employee retention.