5 Tips You Should Know
When Writing Your Job Description
It’s recruitment time! So, it’s time for you to plug your organizational skill gap with a robust recruitment strategy. But where do you begin? A good recruitment strategy usually has an enticing job description at the heart of it.
However, aren’t job descriptions one of the easiest feats to pull off? The data tells us: maybe not.
According to a survey by Allegis Group, while 76% of employers say that they write informative job invitations, only 36% of applicants feel the same. Job description, although specific to a job role, speaks volumes about your company. It is the first source of interaction with your potential employee and, if not designed well, could also be the last while simultaneously impacting employee experience.
Therefore, to make a positive first impression and encourage the right talent to apply to your company, you must implement these five key points in the job description
1. Communicate the job responsibilities clearly
In a report by Jobvite, it was found that 45% of employees leave their jobs in the first three months if they find that their daily responsibility is different from what they had applied for. Given that, as an employer, you must be concise and honest about the job title and responsibilities you expect your candidates to fill.
For instance, if you’re looking for a marketing executive, don’t ask them to provide excellent growth strategies and engage with all your stakeholders. This description is vague and may fail to communicate the company’s day-to-day expectations from a candidate. Instead, you can say that you need a professional who will create a content plan for social media platforms and also reach out to other brands/news publications for regular collaborations. The focus should be to provide your applicants a glimpse of their typical day or month in your company and not leave them assuming about their work tasks.
2. Highlight the required skillsets
Another way to attract ideal candidates for the role is by mentioning the required skillsets in your job description. Whether it is an opening for a graphic designer or a design head, your candidates want to know about the specific creative or technical skills that you’re looking for. Do they need to be proficient in photoshop, website design, or digital illustrations? The more personalized you make your listing, the better. And, don’t hesitate to adorn your list with soft skills; especially if you think they’ll give your prospective employees an edge in the competitive landscape.
3. Provide a salary range
According to a LinkedIn survey, 61% of candidates consider salary or compensation to be the most important factor in a job description. However, less than one-third of companies disclose this information publicly. As an employer, you can perceive this as your chance to build a transparent relationship with your candidates. If you cannot share the exact salary figure, choose to share a tentative range. Doing so will not only allow your candidates to feel positive about joining your company but also save you from repeated negotiations later in the recruitment process.
4. Describe work environment and benefits
Once your candidates have learnt about the job profile, the next step is to tell them about your company and what perks they can expect as an employee. According to a survey by Zippia, it was observed that candidates considered personal development (33%) and work-life balance (29%) as important factors after compensation. That said, to help them weigh your opening over others on the list, you should mention your in-house policies and benefits such as flexible work hours, yearly events, L&D, and team collaborations.
5. Summarize your job listing .
As an employer, the last thing you want is your candidates dropping from the application process because your job invitation is lengthier to read. So, should you deduct information from the above segments? No. Instead, you can create a short 200-300 word summary of the job vacancy for the portal and post it along with your job description. This will make it easy for busy candidates to learn about the job and also share it further for other interested candidates to read.
The most effective way to attract a perfect candidate is to create a perfect job description. However, most often, employers fail to identify the needs and expectations of their candidates, which eventually leads to low footfall and applications on their portals. As a hiring manager, you can choose to learn from these mistakes and create job descriptions that are not only informative but also personalized to each of your organization’s job vacancies.
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