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.
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