A job description with a standard job title and a long list of duties and responsibilities is not just downright boring but also ineffective.
Imagine an online matrimony site that says, “If you are good looking, have an attractive package and an EMI-free home along with a luxury car. Please get in touch”. This is exactly how most job descriptions are actually drafted. If you think about it, no organization wants to hire a generic person. Every employer is looking for a talented professional. But for this, it is important that your job description connects and communicates with your potential employees in a manner that motivates them to apply.
While this definitely takes effort, it is totally worth it when you find the right fit for a job. The right person will not only be productive from day 1 but also contribute to business success and grow to a higher position over time.
A standard job description template will only attract generic applicants and so, the importance of writing a job description that appeals to stand-out candidates just cannot be understated. So, invest some time and devote some serious thought to the skill set and the personality traits you are looking for.
What Actually Appeals to those Stand-out Candidates?
When people are looking for a change, they are actually looking for better prospects. So, if you want them to leave their current role, you need to allure them with a solid employer brand, a job profile that offers growth opportunities, a great work environment, a brilliant mentor who they will work with, and most importantly a job they will love!
Your job description is a great marketing tool that brings you the opportunity to succinctly influence your potential employee and turn his contemplation into a choice. So make every line count and leave a lasting impact that compels your potential candidates to apply.
Answer these Questions Before You Begin
What do you want in your potential candidate in terms of knowledge, skills and experience?
How will you quantify success to reward and recognize top performers?
Why would your right fit want to take up your job?
What are the key responsibilities of the job?
Answering these questions when you are writing a job description will surely help you attract your ideal candidate. If your job description is authentic to your company and your culture and reflects a work environment where employees love to work extra hours even over weekends, sell it in your job description by stating, “you will love this job because……”
Top industry talent is actually looking for this because!
How to Write a Job Description?
A great job description should have the following components:
Job title
A job title is a brief description of the job. It needs to clearly reflect the content, purpose, and scope of the job without exaggerating the importance of the role. And it should be free of age and gender implications. An example of a good job title is ‘Call Center Agent.” An example of a bad job title for the same position would be ‘Sales & Marketing Specialist.’ This title is not clear and is likely to attract the wrong people, making you miss out on qualified candidates.
Duties and responsibilities
The job description should contain a list of the duties and responsibilities assigned to the job. These are the fundamental tasks the candidate would be performing when hired. While writing the duties and responsibilities, consider these pointers:
- Describe the duties and responsibilities in no more than 2 or 3 sentences.
- Make sure each of the duties and responsibilities is outcome-based. This means that it should contain a purpose, an object, and an action. An example would be ‘Prepare monthly sales report to keep track of monthly targets.
Skills and competencies
Skills and competencies are two different things and should be listed separately. Skills are activities the candidates have learned from past work experience or education. An example of a skill is time management or effective presentation, which can be learned through study and practice. On the other hand, competencies are personality traits or attributes that are usually inherent, which you expect the candidate to display in the role. An example of competency is strong communication, which is an innate characteristic of a person.
Relationships
Working relationships are the departments or the people the candidate would require to work closely with. Your job description should have reporting lines and working relationships mentioned. Reporting lines give clarification on the responsibilities of the position, and the candidate also gets an insight into the hierarchical structure of the organization and where their position fits.
Salary
Instead of assigning a particular salary amount to the job description, it makes better sense to include a salary range, especially if the job position is competitive with similar positions in other organizations. Make sure you keep updating this salary range with changing pay scales.
Additional Tips
- Say ‘you’ instead of ‘the ideal candidate’
- Provide a hiring timeframe to create urgency for the position
- Focus responsibilities on growth and development
- Avoid extreme modifiers or superlatives
- Before publishing the job description, double-check to ensure clarity and accuracy
Stay Ahead of the Competition
A well-written job description goes a long way in attracting the talent you need to grow your company and put you ahead of the competition. There’s also an added benefit: Apart from making a great impression on potential candidates, it also enhances your company’s brand reputation and helps you bring in more customers.
But, if you want to go beyond the best recruitment strategies and want more actionable advice to create a cutting-edge job description, then download this FREE job description swipe file.
It features a complete checklist for creating a job description that stands out + 12 brilliant job
descriptions examples + the do’s and don’ts of writing a job description that actually works!
Meanwhile, check out: Top 5 Job Descriptions for Logistics Industry, Top 5 Job Descriptions for Healthcare Industry, Top 7 Job Descriptions for the Design Industry, and many more.
