As the war for talent intensifies and a lot of roles are going through enormous talent shortages, the most important challenge these days is to attract more candidates to your job page and, most importantly, make them apply for a position within your organisation. This is easier said than done, since candidates only take 60 seconds on average before making their decision whether the job description might be a fit or not.
Traditionally, job descriptions have a whole shopping list of requirements, must-have skills and are written in sharp black and white conditions without revealing any type of emotions. This is exactly what scares good candidates and these are the sort of things you want to avoid. By carefully thinking about how to write the job description, you’ll have a better chance to attract more quality candidates.
To write more successful job descriptions, have a look at the following tips:
1. An easy-to-read job title
First of all, make sure that the title of your vacancy stands out and tells exactly what the job is about. Don’t be creative at this point, only if you can justify. In addition, it should be concise and specific, so that the job seeker can immediately evaluate whether it makes sense to spend time reading the whole description. Remember: keep things simple and transparent.
2. A strong and meaningful company description
The company description is considered to be one of the most important parts for job seekers: they want to know what your company does and what it is like to work there. After all, job seekers are not really looking anymore for one specific job, but more to work for a company, whose values are in line with their personal values. Ask yourself which information could be relevant and avoid using job-related vocabulary.
3. Strong description of the responsibilities
'Short and powerful' are the words you have to keep in mind when listing the responsibilities of a job offer. Use a powerful bullet point list instead of long sentences. You should also be realistic & honest: you don’t want to make promises to your candidates, which you can't keep. Moreover, it might be useful to highlight how this specific function will help the company achieve its overall goals.
5. Don’t focus on the requirements
Have you ever hired someone who met ALL requirements? I bet not, since you would have to give that person a promotion right away. So, if requirements don’t have to be met, why do companies often set out a large checklist?
These aspects weed out good talent that won’t apply because of the strong and detailed requirements: Who can say that someone with 3 years of experience in a high-intensity job isn’t as experienced as someone who has over 10 years of experience within the same branch?
6. Easy and partly automated application process
On top of that, your company should offer future employees an easy and innovative application process. The rise of social media, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, has given candidates the opportunity to apply for a job in just a few clicks. They aren’t used to write long emails anymore and they can apply for almost every job in the world. When the offer gets bigger, job seekers aren’t going to apply when they must login, use a password, etc. since they will look for these jobs were the application process is easy and innovative. Read more about how to keep up with the rapidly changing world of HR in one of our latest blogposts.
7. Personalisation
A successful job description should be written in a way that it makes the candidates feel something while reading it. Storytelling is one of the most important aspects in your marketing department, but the same applies for writing a job description. You need to engage with people, they should see themselves already working for your organisation even before applying for a certain position. Obviously, this will motivate them to apply and might make them spread a good word on your company after.
No matter how you put it, job descriptions form the baseline when trying to find the right candidate for the vacancy. Once you finish writing the description, carefully check everything one more time. All tips included? Good to go!
So, what keeps you from writing amazing job descriptions in the future?
Skeeled offers you the perfect opportunity to bring innovation and digitalisation to your hiring. Check our website or our LinkedIn and Facebook pages for further information.
Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Your team here at skeeled
