It is often said that first impression is the last impression. In the recruitment domain, this critical role of creating an everlasting first impression in the minds of potential candidates is played by job description. In this candidate driven market, the biggest challenge recruiters face is the scarcity of top quality talent. And those who are really talented get snagged by some company even before they start looking for a job actively. This makes it all the more important for your job descriptions to outline not only the skill sets required and experience needed, but also provide a fair picture of the organization and the specific details of the position being filled.
Job descriptions are an integral part of the recruitment process. They help you to describe the positions and the role expected to be played by the candidate. That’s why they need to be more than just dry words on a piece of paper. They need to be expressive, engaging and should paint a picture of your organizational culture to be able to attract the right talent.
Apart from the standard role description, you should emphasize on mission, values and culture of the organization to hire the best fit. Ensure that your job description does not alienate people of color, differently abled people, women and the LGBTQ community.
According to Justin Cerilli, Managing Director of Financial Services and Technology at Russell Reynolds and Associates, “The best job descriptions combine a little bit of marketing, the reality of the role, the necessary skills and competencies and the organization’s culture. All those things put together are key to how to present an open role to the market.
Critical elements required for creating perfect job descriptions
High quality job descriptions have certain elements that help in attracting great talent for organizational growth. Let us get up close with these elements:
1. Set the tone right straight away with a perfect job title
Your title is the best way to reach out to the potential candidate. It should be such that it catches the eyes of an ideal candidate without much effort. It should include the right keywords, for example sales; and the name of the vacant designation, i.e. vice president, associate, manager, etc. The title should be put across in such a way that the right candidate thinks “I can do this job”. Then, they will go ahead and read the entire job description.
In the recent times, many recruiters have replaced traditional job titles with creative titles that are difficult to come up in search results. For example; Instead of writing “Sales Director” they write, “Sales Ninja”. Never write such titles. Even though you might be tempted to try these titles, they are very difficult to search which will not serve your purpose of making your job description accessible to a wide array of audience. In addition to this, these keywords are not optimized for job board search engines, so you will end up creating a job description that will not be searchable with the help of a title.
2. Catch the attention of the candidates through a brief, engaging summary of the job
Provide a snapshot of the major functions to be performed for the job and the way it has a role in the achievement of organizational goal. One way to deal with this is by answering a simple question like: How does this designation solve the existing problems of the organization? It should outline the goals that the organization expects to accomplish from the designation and how it expects the person hired to achieve them. You need to use this section as a hook to make the candidate read the entire job description.
Here is an interesting way to explain the job for a copywriter.
3. Be specific while outlining the job responsibilities
Provide relevant information pertaining to the day-to-day responsibilities in short and specific bullet points. List tasks that need to be accomplished so that the candidate viewing the job description can get a quick glimpse of the job responsibilities and feel confident that they are the right fit for the role. Always write the job responsibilities keeping the terminology that matches with your profession. If you are not unsure, take the help of the hiring manager, and then enlist the responsibilities.
Take a look at this well drafted job description that outlines the job responsibilities in specific bulleted points.
4. Clearly state the desired experience
Although, this might seem pretty obvious, Many organizations miss the mark when it comes to stating the correct experience required. A fine balance needs to be maintained here. If the number is overstated, many qualified candidates might perceive it to be a position that they are not worth applying for. And if it is understated, you might not get quality candidates.
Discuss the required experience with the line manager or immediate supervisor for the role to be filled. Also do some research on how other similar jobs are describing their experience requirements. A combination of these two exercises will give you the job experience requirement that is just right.
5. Provide an overview of the organization
Most of the job seekers today want to know about the organization before applying for any job. This makes it all the more important for you to include the organization information like work culture, benefits, perks, and workplace bonuses provided. But, avoid any gender-specific pronouns by rephrasing them altogether. The organization’s graphics, photos, videos or other multimedia supplements should showcase a diverse group of workforce. You can even provide information about your company through an employer branding video that would make your organization stand out.
6. Give useful insight about the package being offered
There are mixed opinions amongst experts on disclosing the salary details in a job description and how much should be provided. Generally speaking, organizations should provide a range, a generic phrase or in certain exceptional cases, the exact salary offered. It is important to give some idea to the candidate about the package so that they can take the decision of applying for the role. But, you should take the decision of disclosing the package based solely on your organization’s values and culture.
Conclusion
While developing a perfect job description, ensure that you do not use any demanding or negative statement. For example, don’t apply if you are not passionate and hardworking. This can be a big turn off and can prevent even good candidates from applying for your job. Always use general neutral pronouns to promote equal employment opportunities in your organization. Use an effective recruitment software to source the best talent.
Last but not the least, remember that a long job description giving precise explanation is not a bad thing. It only helps in providing information in detail by answering all the questions of the candidates, which ultimately assists in getting the attention of the right set of candidates.
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