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It’s no secret that hiring is an extremely competitive market right now. Employees have their pick of multiple jobs, and that process begins with browsing job postings – which means that job descriptions are more important than ever.

Related Content: How to Write Effective Job Postings

Creating a compelling job description is necessary to stand out in a competitive market, but it’s not an easy task.  Follow these tips for creating a compelling description that stands out in the sea of job postings.

Before You Write

Know Your Target Audience

Before you can actually write your compelling job description, you need to know exactly who you’re targeting. Have a picture in your mind of your ideal candidate. It doesn’t need to be specific to demographics, but think about some key differentiators that might impact how you write your job description:

• Are you trying to attract a short-term contract employee or a direct hire?
• Is the ideal candidate someone who has worked in the industry for 10+ years, or is that level of experience not necessary?
• Is the ideal candidate someone who is good at following and completing set tasks, or is it someone who will need to identify tasks to be done?

A picture should start to form in your mind, and you should have this vision as a reference point while you’re writing your content. 

Know the Terms They Use to Search

Also known as keyword research, this is the practice of making sure that your job description includes the specific phrases that your ideal target actually uses when searching for jobs. Here’s an easy example: “CNC Machinist” vs “CNC Machine Operator.” Both are correct terms, but what is your audience more likely to search for?

You can uncover this insight by doing research online on places like LinkedIn and Indeed to see what type of language is used in posts that get the most engagement. Another reference point is an experienced manufacturing recruiter, who will be able to provide you with specific insight for terms to use.

Related Content: How to Find Qualified Manufacturing Employees

Components of a Compelling Job Description

Once you’ve identified your ideal candidate and the terms they use to search for jobs, it’s time to start writing the actual job description. There are a few key components that go into creating a compelling job description. These are in order of importance that you should write in.

Use Candidate-Focused Language and Flow

This is something that weaves throughout all of your written words, but it is something important to keep in mind. When writing job descriptions, many companies make the mistake of writing from a company perspective, not a candidate one. In other words, the job description focuses on what the company needs from the candidate – experience, skills, duties – and not what the candidate gets from your company. With a competitive job market, why should they choose your company? Keep your candidate front of mind while writing content and try and put yourself in their shoes. 

Clear Job Title

This is where the keyword research from earlier is going to be most relevant. Your job title should be clear and concise and use the same terms that your ideal candidate would. It’s tempting to want to stuff a lot of fluff into the title to try and make it more compelling, but this isn’t the place to do that: it should be succinct and descriptive. 

Provide Information on Company Culture

This feeds into the why of why a candidate should choose your company. Describing your company culture is critical for attracting talent and standing apart from dry, company-focused job descriptions. Some words you can use to describe your culture include:

• Motivating
•  Fast-paced
•  Educational
•  Inclusive
•  Collaborative
•  Autonomous
•  Challenging
•  Community involvement
•  Growing
•  Respectful
•  Trusting
•  Supportive

This information should be near the top of the job description since it’s something that your candidates are most interested in.

Include Salary Range and Benefits Information

Providing a salary range and benefits included are essential in a competitive job market. These are often the first things your ideal candidate will scan for, and they might not engage with your job posting at all if they don’t see any of that information available.

Include Key Responsibilities and Desired Qualities

Once you’ve covered the job title, company culture and salary/benefits it’s time to dig into the specifics of what duties will look like for the candidate. Start with the responsibilities they’ll be expected to take on. If you have any desired qualities for your candidate, this is the section where you want to include them.

List Required Qualifications

Finally, you can round out the job description with the required qualifications. When listing out qualifications, make sure to indicate which ones are 100% required and which ones are desired qualifications. This will help your candidates self-select when filling out the application.

Looking to fill contract, temp, or ready-to-hire positions? Strom Minnesota can help. Using our database of thousands of skilled workers, we can match ideal employees for you – with 0 work on your end.

 

Gen Z has grown up and is now entering the workforce. With the oldest Gen Z members in their early 20s, companies can’t afford to ignore this crucial demographic.

But like every generation, Gen Z has its own preferences when it comes to work, lifestyle, and communication. Unlike older generations such as Boomers or Gen X, Gen Z doesn’t enter the workforce with the expectation that they’ll have the same career for decades to come. They grew up during several economic crashes and sweeping changes to the cultural landscape.

Gen Z is less likely to stick around with a company they feel lukewarm about. If they don’t see the support they’re looking for, they will leave – knowing that there are plenty of competitors out there offering exactly what Gen Z employees want.

Many companies struggle with how to engage these workers, and even more so how to keep them.

➔ Read Now: How to Maximize Employee Satisfaction to Increase Retention

Hiring and retaining Gen Z employees starts with knowing what values their generation holds, their broad views on work-life balance, and what makes a company attractive to this key demographic.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently dug into behavioral habits of Gen Z employees. They identified 10 key qualities that attract and retain Gen Z employees.

Employer Qualities That Attract and Keep Gen Z Employees

1. Flexibility – Gen Z is the most comfortable generation with technology and are fluent in digital tools. They also expect to be able to work at their pace, with includes remote work.

2. Peer coaching– According to SHRM: “Few efforts are more valued by Generation Z employees than peer coaching programs.” This generation is unreceptive to micromanaging tactics. Instead, they want cooperative growth and improvement.

➔ Read Now: How to Get Employee Development Right

3. Teamwork– Many Gen Z members highly value being a part of something. Even when working remotely, they want opportunities to connect with the rest of their team and feel engaged.

4. Diversity – Not only is Gen Z incredibly diverse as a group, but they place a high value on diversity within organizations as well. Companies need to “walk the walk” when it comes to having a diverse workforce in order to retain Gen Z employees.

5. Work/life balance – Along with their flexibility, Gen Z places great value on the ability to step back from work and to prioritize their health and well-being when needed.

6. Development – For Gen Z, having a specific, unchanging focus isn’t of interest to them. They like to have opportunities to develop inside and outside of their current role within the organization.

➔ Read Now: Digital Upskilling Your Manufacturing Workforce

7. Growth – For many members of Gen Z, they want to be able to grow in their role. They want to receive new responsibilities, hone new skills and try new things. It’s important for them to see opportunities for growth within a company if you want them to stick around.

8. Social awareness – Gen Z is extremely tuned-in to the world around them and want to work for companies that share their same values. They look for companies that show social responsibility – not just in words, but in actions.

➔ Read Now: Why Positive Work Cultures are More Productive

9. Mentorships – As part of their development and growth, Gen Z is very receptive to working with other generations. They are excited to learn and be mentored. Again, they don’t like micromanaging but do still want to learn from the expertise and experience of older employees.

10. Job rotation – More so than other generations, Gen Z likes to experience different positions. An example that SHRM gives is an accountant spending six months on franchise accounting, another six months on brand advertising accounting and six more months in corporate accounting.

Gen Z’s presence will only continue to grow in the workplace as they step into the workforce. Companies looking to attract and keep Gen Z should take steps to ensure their company is attractive to these workers.

Looking to fill contract, temp or ready to hire positions? Download our brochure to see how Strom Minnesota can help you find qualified candidates to fill your open positions.

Download Our Brochure

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Strom Minnesota is an engineering and technical recruitment agency that specializes in high-skilled job candidates for highly technical positions. We facilitate contract employment, project staffing, temp-to-perm and direct hire opportunities. Industries served include IT, engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and manufacturing. We are affiliated with Strom Engineering, a national staffing and recruitment agency.

When hiring for engineering jobs, manufacturing, or any related industry, it’s important to understand how to hire efficiently.

According to the Society of Human Resource Management, it costs about $4,129 on average to hire a new employee.

Ensuring that you’re hiring efficiently and strategically will save money and resources down the line.

➔ Read Now: Tips for Employers on Attracting Manufacturing Talent

Knowing when to pass on a candidate can be simple when incorporating these five tips. (Courtesy of Forbes)

5 Hiring Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs

1. Hiring Even When Your Gut Tells You Not To

Some people look great on paper, with the right requirements for the job and experience in the industry. But trusting your gut should be a factor that you put into play during the hiring process every time.

If you get the feeling that they might not meet expectations, trusting that feeling is a must. After all, business is half logic, half emotion. You wouldn’t want to pursue a business venture with someone that you don’t trust, and the same goes for your hiring process.

➔ Read Now: Tips for Finding Employees During Employment Shortages

2. Not Properly Defining the Roles and Responsibilities You’re Hiring For

Without a properly defined role, it may be hard for new employees to understand what they’ll be doing and why they’re doing it. When hiring, you want to ensure that every aspect of the job is clear.

When the role is clear, you’ll be able to be more efficient, spending less time on managing your new employees. The new employees will also know what is acceptable and what isn’t, improving overall productivity and boosting the morale within the company culture.

➔ Read Now: How to Maximize Employee Satisfaction to Increase Retention

3. Not Doing Due Diligence

Calling their references and getting in contact with their previous employers is one thing. Getting to know them through their online presence, how they answer questions, how they ask questions, and how they tell their stories, are also all necessary parts of seeing if they are fit for the job.

Due diligence is a crucial factor when hiring any new employee. This is where working with a staffing agency can make a tremendous difference – they will do the heavy lifting of vetting employees and making sure they’re a good fit for your organization.

➔ Read Now:  What’s the Difference Between a Career Recruiter and a Career Coach?

4. Hiring the Right Person for the Wrong Role

Ensuring that a candidate is right for the role they’re getting hired for is another big factor. Sometimes you may find a candidate that you think would work better for another role within the company, even if it’s not the position they’re applying for.

Hiring into the role you need will keep things clear about what the new employee will be doing. Most of the time when you hire them for a position you think they’ll be good for, this creates unclear expectations for their daily duties, causing confusion and a waste of resources.

➔ Read Now: How to Find Qualified Manufacturing Employees

5. Not Firing Fast Enough

Knowing the fact that your company reflects whom you hire, you want to be selective if an employee isn’t performing as well as you thought they would. When you hire an employee who isn’t doing well and you keep them on, you aren’t doing your company any favors.

The longer you wait to get rid of an employee who isn’t doing well, the harder it will be to get rid of them. Setting loyalty aside, if they aren’t the right fit for your company or the role, you need to keep what’s important a top priority.

➔ Read Now: Top Tips to Finding the Right Candidate

Looking to fill contract, temp, or ready-to-hire positions? Check out our Build Your Workforce page to see how Strom Minnesota can help you find qualified candidates to fill your open positions.

Build Your Workforce

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Strom Minnesota is an engineering and technical recruitment agency that specializes in high-skilled job candidates for highly technical positions. We facilitate contract employment, project staffing, temp-to-perm, and direct hire opportunities. Industries served include IT, engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing. We are affiliated with Strom Engineering, a national staffing and recruitment agency.