Wonder why you’re not getting great job applicants? You might want to take a closer look at how you write your job descriptions.
For every great job description, there are many more that simply list keywords related to job duties, tasks, qualifications and experience requirements. While it’s easy to write job descriptions that are simply lists of keywords, these descriptions are hard for applicants to read and understand. They also attract job seekers who are mass-applying to jobs – and might not be a good hire for your organization.
Instead of focusing on getting a large number of applications, you should concentrate on attracting the right talent. Your job listing will be many candidates’ first impression of your company. While you want to avoid keyword stuffing, you also don’t want to fill your listing with cliches or fluff.
So how do you create a more effective job description to attract the right candidates? Business owners, recruiters, marketing managers and career experts outlined the basics.
A good job description goes deeper than a typical list of skills, tasks and role requirements. To attract the best applicants to your position, give them a feel for your company culture, said Jean Cook, former business coach for The Alternative Board.
Rebecca Barnes-Hogg, founder and CEO of YOLO Insights, shared similar views, stating that quality employees will invest in businesses that reflect their own interests and values.
“They want to understand your products and what you stand for,” she said. “Your ad needs to tell them that. The first few sentences need to capture the candidate’s attention. Like any effective sales pitch, make it about them and their interests.”
Jaynine Howard, founder and career strategist at JJ Howard & Associates, recommends being upfront about salary in a job description. Many applicants will turn down an offer at the last minute after being informed of the pay, she added. Clearing this up from the start will prevent you and your applicants from wasting time.
Michael Lan, senior resume consultant at Resume Writer Direct, recommends including application directions that contain a specific call to action. Whether it’s to email a specific person, leave a phone message or include a code word in their cover letter, asking applicants to do something extra can help you quickly narrow down your interview pool.
A clear call to action like this “serves as a built-in screening process, as you will be able to weed out applicants who are not able to follow directions and demonstrate a clear lack of attention to detail,” Lan said.
Think of your job listings as sales pitches – the job applicant is buying into a job with your business. As with any elevator pitch, clear facts and a powerful call to action are key.
When you write your job description, you’ll want to use a tone that represents your company’s brand, said Joseph Terach, co-founder of Resume Deli. For instance, if you’re searching for creative employees, make your job post quirky and amusing. Detail-oriented tech employees, on the other hand, may do better with concrete lists of necessary skills.
Since many people are distracted and rushed, they will likely respond better to listings that are easy to read or scan, especially on mobile devices. Don’t overwhelm your candidates with useless information or lengthy paragraphs.
Steve Dempsey, COO of staffing firm Aquent, recommends organizing key responsibilities with bullet points and separating sections with descriptive headers.
“Most job seekers are scanning,” he said. “They are on the hunt for the right job and will look at a job post and scan the details before deciding to apply, or to ignore it.”
Jan Hudson, COO of Surf Search, agrees. “Most job candidates search job boards on their phones now. Keep it simple, and always use bullet points.” She also suggests using the headings “Responsibilities” and “Requirements” before bulleted lists for added clarity.
Finally, light humor can make candidates remember your listing and want to apply. Chris Mindel, marketing manager at Dexter Edward LLC, uses subtle jokes in his job descriptions. “It makes the applicant smile when they think about your company,” he said. “They’re more likely to apply.”
Taking all of this advice into account can be overwhelming.
For your next open position, consider using a two-sentence opening pitch about your company, two bulleted lists under the headings “Responsibilities” and “Requirements,” and a one-sentence call to action asking the applicant to click a link to fill out an application.
For better readability and a higher response rate, make sure to include the important information about job duties, skills, tasks and necessary experience in the “Responsibilities” and “Requirements” lists.
Keep your job listing simple, with a short opening pitch and two bulleted lists outlining the role and your ideal candidate. End with a short call to action.
Hudson provided the following job description, which attracted candidates with excellent qualifications in the life sciences field:
Global medical devices leader seeks a Supplier Quality Manager to lead a supplier quality team in the development of new Class III medical devices. The Supplier Quality Manager will lead supplier quality initiatives and qualifications, as well as provide mentoring and oversight of a supplier quality team. Travel is expected to be around 25%, both domestic and international.
Requirements:
Responsibilities:
Dustin Diehl, director of content marketing at Digital Current, provided this quirky job post aimed at a creative content marketer. Notice the use of headings and humorous voice.
Content Strategist
This is probably, what, the seventh job ad you’ve seen today? Tenth? Hey, if it’s your first, we feel lucky! We understand that finding a new job can be tough – so we want to make this as easy as possible.
What are you hiring for?
A content strategist!
What, exactly, is that?
If you have to ask, you may not be right for the job.
OK, well, what’s Digital Current’s definition of a content strategist?
Fair question! There are lots of different ways to interpret the role of a content strategist, so here’s our take:
At DC (that’s our abbreviation for Digital Current, not the comic book company, although that would be awesome – we’ll ask you about your favorite Justice League member during your interview, don’t worry), our content strategists:
Great! Where do I sign up?
Send us your resume and we’ll set up a call! Can’t wait to meet you.
Once your job description is complete, you need to get it in front of potential hires. You can easily do so through job posting sites. On these websites, people looking for new positions can search for opportunities that interest them. The hiring sites will then pull up the jobs most relevant to the query. That means you can sit back and relax as candidates come to you rather than the other way around.
Whether you’re hiring a senior engineer or an entry-level marketing specialist, it’s important to write concise job descriptions that showcase the most important parts of the position.
Use headings, bullet points and clear calls to action to increase readability and response rate.
Don’t be afraid to make your job listing match your company culture. You’ll attract more candidates who fit your organization.
Max Freedman, Brittney Morgan and Sammi Caramela contributed to the writing and research in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.