Job description is no longer an option.

Let’s put it this way. Just like a good trailer is important to attract an audience; an effective job description is vital to attract good and competent candidates.

Gone are the days when candidates could be told what to do! In the same way, you can’t expect a good candidate profile without having a job description. If organizations need a competent pool of candidates, they need to juggle many things, and one key thing to do is to ‘take the time to prepare a sharp job description (JD).

Five aspects that candidates usually look for in a JD

According to a recent study, 61% of candidates would like to see the salary range offered, 49% focus on qualifications needed, 49% look for job-related details, 33% focus on performance goals and 28% on company culture. As a result, these five key aspects must be covered in any JD.

A study also says that an estimated 50% of job seekers spend less than 5 minutes reading the JD. It means organizations and hiring managers must pay a lot of attention to writing effective job descriptions to make them a good read in a short span of time and keep to the point.

NORM

While it is not a legal obligation for an employer to provide JD, it is good practice to follow. There are situations where a job description can play a vital role and become a base document if the hiring situation goes out of control between the candidate and the employer. A well-written JD could also act as a goal-setting document after the employee joins if administered appropriately.

WHY

A JD also acts as a bridge between the employer and the candidate. These are demanding times, and good talent is always in great demand. In order to attract good candidates, organizations now need to juggle a lot of things. Hence, a job description could act as a billboard for the job opening and provide the right direction for the job seeker.

Here, we would draw an analogy between a job description and a movie trailer. A well-written job description is like a movie trailer and can attract potential candidates, the same way, a trailer can attract its audience to a movie.

WRITING A GOOD JD

The best person to write a JD would be the immediate supervisor of the open position. One additional pair of eyes, either from HR or someone from the same team to validate, would make it perfect.

What should a smart JD include: Title, internal pegging level in the organization, department, location, position reporting to, key technical skills required, behavioural skills required.

It needs to be written with the best choice of words and in a way, that expectation setting happens seamlessly between both parties (employer and candidate).

TOOL

Using augmented writing for job descriptions is a trend these days. This technology serves as a writing coach and a virtual assistant for writing job descriptions. An augmented writing tool analyses the words you use in job descriptions and gives suggestions for more diversity and inclusion. It also helps you choose the right choice of words, which is far more welcoming to applicants. These days, more organizations are adapting to using such tools, technology and AI in talent acquisition to attract and hire the best talent and make a better business impact.

CHECKING AND VALIDATING THE QUALITY OF YOUR JD

If you are writing a JD for a particular position, in parallel, try to write two more JDs for one position above and one position below to check how things could get interchanged and how it becomes a puzzle! The outcome could be a mirror of the JD.

BEST PRACTICE

Internally, while it is good to have a JD in place for every open position, it would also act as documentation safeguarding the interests of the organization, and also ensure that while writing job descriptions best practices are infused to attract potential candidates.

In conclusion, providing an effective job description resonates with the level of interest an organization has in hiring for a position and, most importantly, it would serve the purpose of attracting the right talent. So, every time you are job hunting, do insist on a JD.

This article was authored by Michael Joseph, Senior Manager – L&D Operations, Adecco India