Do You Know How To Write A Job Description?

Recruiting is a highly competitive industry. Over 3 billion job listings are online at any given moment. But one of the best and significant ways to stand out from the crowd involves knowing how to write a job description. These are the important elements of composing a great job description in the job ads.

• Accurate Job Title

• Be Crystal-Clear About Responsibilities

• Be Transparent About The Qualifications And Skills Required

• Speak Directly To The Applicants

• Disclose Brief Information About The Organization

• Specificity Is Key

How To Write A Job Description

Compelling job descriptions are considered in many quarters as the cornerstone or foundation of the entire recruiting process. When you know how to write a job description, you set expectations for qualified prospects, informing them about the role, the organization, etc. Although writing compelling job descriptions may look frustrating, knowing what to do will make the task easier.
You will need to stick to using specific terms while keeping a professional tone. Therefore, here’s how to write a job description that does its work incredibly well: attract only the best talent to your organization.

Accurate Job Title

Make the job title accurate, concise, and straightforward. Most applicants will be on the lookout for terms they are familiar with. Therefore, make sure you don’t stray from the regular – or standard – industry parlance of common job titles. Ensure you include specific terms, including the program required for that particular role.
For instance, the job title, ‘Developer’ sounds vague, but ‘Lead React Native Engineer’ is much more descriptive. This will attract much more qualified talent to your organization. The job title should also highlight the company's culture and industry standards, as well as its purpose and a brief overview of responsibilities. Let your writing style match your company’s culture as well as the nature of the role.

Be Crystal-Clear About Responsibilities

It is always an excellent idea to be transparent about the essential duties and responsibilities of the job. List them in bullet points and start every point with an appropriate verb in the present tense. You should be crystal-clear on how often you expect a task to be carried and how much time will be given. This gives the prospect an idea of how a typical day at this position looks like. 
Minimize using blurry descriptors such as 'once in a while,' 'often,' etc., when describing the task to be performed.

Be Transparent About The Qualifications And Skills Required

Specify every preferred skill and qualification – along with experience – required to hold down this position in the job description. That means you should include the licenses, certifications, level of experience, and any essential technical proficiency. It will make a lot of sense if you also add the attributes and traits the candidate is expected to display in the role.
For instance, behavioral competencies such as teamwork, flexibility, leadership, communication, initiative, etc., should be highlighted in the job description.

Speak Directly To The Applicants

Highly effective job descriptions are relatable and professional. Applicants usually skim job descriptions, so confusing phrases and jargon turn them off. Therefore, before you publish your job description, double-check your job description to ensure accuracy and clarity.

Disclose Brief Information About The Organization

Assume that all prospects know nothing about the organization, so get ready to fill them in. Most organizations have lengthy mission statements with a culture code and multiple core values. Consider slimming everything down to at least 4 sentences. This is important for prospects checking out multiple establishments and open roles so that the mission statements don’t start sounding the same.
If they decide to go through with the position, they can always read more by checking out their complete profile on their official website. Let the candidates know the organization's industry and goals. It's not a bad idea to include other helpful information such as annual sales, branch locations, number of workers, etc.

Specificity Is Key

Be specific about who you are looking for: Someone that can hold a part-time or full-time position. For example, if it has to do with an internship, let the candidates know if it is paid or not, the internship duration, etc. If you are not specific about what you want, it means you don’t know how to write a job description for a new position since most candidates will skip your posting.
This helps you connect quickly with potential candidates and make an excellent first impression. Knowing how to write a job description for a new position is a fundamental step towards attracting highly qualified prospects. But if you don't communicate clearly or showcase what you are looking for, you will only end up with mediocre applicants.
This brief guide will show you how to write a job description that will attract only top-notch talent to your organization. You will also discover the information to include in your job ads and what you should leave out.

What is a Job Description?

A job description is a summary of the crucial responsibilities, qualifications, activities, as well as skills for a particular role. It is a document that summarizes or describes the type of work to be performed. The #1 key to highly effective job descriptions is striking the perfect balance between providing enough details or information so prospects can quickly understand the role and your organization.
However, your job description must remain concise. An excellent job description should include vital details about the organization. This consists of the company mission, culture, including the benefits it provides to employees. In addition, it should specify the salary range and position. Great job descriptions should have enough details that allow candidates to easily determine whether they are qualified for a particular position or not. 
According to a survey conducted by Indeed.com, up to 52 percent of job seekers indicated that the quality of a job description is highly influential on their decision to apply for a particular job.

The Importance Of A Stellar Job Descriptions

Job descriptions are a crucial part of job application processes. The ones with the correct information help prospects quickly determine whether they are eligible for a particular role and whether it is a job they have a perfect skill set to do. From an organization’s perspective, the job description is essential in ensuring that every application received for the position matches the needs that the role demands.
It also helps external recruiters and HR departments streamline the entire selection process. And they end up receiving a high concentration of applicants who are highly suitable for further selection or interview. In other words, job descriptions help to streamline selection processes in an organization.

Writing Job Descriptions: Best Practices

Every employer looking for employees wants to attract only highly qualified prospects to their organization. But is there a way to readily grab – and hold – the attention of an applicant who is in high demand? Here are some writing job description best practices to bear in mind when creating job ads:

• Be Authentic

Templates are excellent as they can help save you considerable time and energy. In addition, using them allows you to post job descriptions much more quickly, thereby preventing you from missing out on quality candidates. However, you may end up relying on an outdated job description template. And your job descriptions will appear somewhat stiff to applicants.
It is often easy to notice job descriptions that sound the same. Therefore, create an original job description that will highlight why applicants would want to send in their applications. Don't write generic job descriptions that are not eye-catching.

• Incorporate Growth-Mindset Language

Growth-mindset language generally draws emphasis on the potential to develop one's talents and abilities, i.e., to learn on the job, as it were. This is because, by contrast, fixed-mindset language will only stress inherent characteristics or unchanging skills. But job descriptions that use growth-mindset sentences and phrases – such as forward thinker, opportunity to grow, etc. – have been proven to elicit the desired responses.
Research even shows that a job description with a growth mindset phrase or two fills 8-11 days faster on average than one without any of these terms. Therefore, do away with fixed-mindset phrases such as 'natural ability,' 'high performer,' 'effortlessly,' etc., as they have been proven to limit the appeal of job postings.

• Mention Salary Range

One of the best writing job descriptions best practices to keep in mind is to avoid surprises by providing a salary range. When you mention the salary range within your job description, it helps attract just the right prospects or candidates. One significant reason why prospects turn down job offers is as a result of low salaries.
However, by being upfront with the maximum amount you are willing to pay, candidates with high salary expectations can stay away. This way you will always be able to focus and invest time into those who are satisfied with that salary range.

• Optimize for Mobile

Research shows that up to 45 percent of job seekers search earnestly for job openings on their mobile devices at least once a day. Potential applicants on social media will quickly skip over your position if your job descriptions look somewhat clunky. Therefore, to prevent this, ensure you optimize your job descriptions to make them readable on smartphones or tablets.
Take note of the text size, your logo, titles, etc., and check to see if they are mobile-friendly. Then, check the job description on your mobile device and a computer. Format the job description such that potential candidates can quickly skim through it.

• Don’t Forget to Include Contact Information

Have you seen a job description example without the contact information? Unfortunately, some HR departments make this costly mistake when writing job descriptions. Make sure you add up-to-date contact information to the job description. This allows prospects to quickly get in touch with you if they need clarifications or have burning questions that require urgent answers.
A valid email address and a telephone number are, more often than not, sufficient enough in most cases.

• Avoid Jargons

Jargon, a characteristic language of a particular group, has been discovered to be one of the top deterrents for top talent. To some HR specialists, jargons help to narrow down potential applicants to those within your industry. But in most cases, it can isolate people of a particular gender or age. Injecting too much jargon into your job description can leave job seekers confused, frustrated, and even disengaged.
An in-depth study revealed that more than one-third of job descriptions today use highly confusing jargon. Applicants that go through job descriptions heavily laden with jargon may be unsure of the role and cannot readily discover whether they qualify for them. Here are some of the terminologies that recruiters typically inject in their job descriptions:

• Rockstar

• KPI (key performance indicators)

• Guru

• Ninja

• Self-starter

• Wizards

• OTE (on-target earnings)

• Entrepreneurial Environment

When you write job descriptions, ensure they are thorough, clear, and specific with minimal industry jargon.

• Never Include Unrealistic Or Unreasonable Expectations

Do not list unreasonable expectations or overstate the needs of the job. If you do, you may likely hire overqualified candidates who will not remain too long at your organization.

Conclusion

Writing job descriptions can be deceptively challenging. However, this highly crucial part of scaling your business while maintaining consistency ensures you only end up with extraordinary employees for your organization. Everything starts with knowing how to write a job description that catches the attention of your prospects. Then, structure the entire process, bear in mind the writing job descriptions best practices, and raise the stakes for the HR department.
Check out how to write a job description example or two in order to see what works, especially in your industry. Then incorporate the tips, suggestions, etc., shared in this guide the next time you write a job description. You will notice a marked difference as more candidates line up, eager to work for your organization. Once the candidates have gone through the onboarding process, as HR professionals, we ought to distribute the paystubs as their proof of income.
Visit the pay stub maker online to learn more about getting paystubs for your employees! Remember to also keep track of your employees performance by setting a list of KPIs for them to achieve!