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Writing your job descriptions is a crucial stage of recruitment
advertising. If you write your job description poorly you could
find yourself swamped with unsuitable applicants or it could result
in too few responses - both of which will result in fewer /
no placements.
So, to maximise the chances of good quality applicant coming through
to you, we have put together some advice on how to make your job
ad more effective and increase the chances of you making a placement.
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How to write job descriptions in the most effective way
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Put yourself in the position of the jobseeker and think what would
attract you to read the job details and click on the advert.
Do not forget you are writing an advert for the Internet, which is
different to the process of writing for print or other advertising
mediums. So you cannot just take your offline copy and use it online.
The aim of the advert is to attract interest, communicate the essential
points quickly and clearly and should follow the classical AIDA
selling format: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. The ad should
'attract' the job seekers attention, attract their 'interest'
- that is establishing relevance in the minds of an appropriate
candidate, create 'desire' to pursue the opportunity and
finally provide clear instructions to 'action' -
actually apply.
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Title
· This is the main field a candidate will search for so think
cleverly.
· It must be relevant, clear and creative.
· The jobseeker sees this first so make sure it is accurate
and a job title people will recognise reflecting industry standard
words.
· Using multiple words in the title means if two people searching
for a job that may call it two different things - your job will
appear in the search results for both eventualities.
· The job title is meaningless if no one clicks to read the
job description.
· The more detailed it is, the more likely it will get clicked
on, so maximise the space allowed.
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Job Description
This is the content of your advert and must be easy to read, simple
and concise. It is good to split this content into paragraphs so jobseekers
can see at a glance areas that are of interest to them. Make the content
easy on the eye, do not write it all in capitals and break up the
description logically. Don't forget to put a deadline on applications
so people do not miss out.
NOTE: The first paragraph will be seen in the list of job results
and therefore will be read straight after the job title. If they
have a long list of jobs, these first few lines are what a candidate
will read so it can prove to be very important!
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Paragraphs to include....
Describe the content of the actual job /job details
This must grab the candidate's attention and make them want
to read on. What the candidates will be doing on the job, the type
and scope of work and their responsibilities. E.g. are they managing
people or will they be part of a team? Will they be dealing with customers
or clients? Job seekers want to know what they will actually be doing
if they are going to apply for the job.
It may be a good idea to bullet point the main responsibilities
and tasks.
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Skills / Certifications / Educational requirements
It is important to differentiate between skills they 'must have'
and skills it 'would be nice to have'. Software/ hardware
skills, programming languages, professional qualifications e.g. ACCA
etc the candidate is required to have should be clearly stated and
specific. Specify a minimum amount of work experience in that field,
educational requirements and any personal attributes the candidate
should possess. Use variations of the skills you require and words
the candidate is likely to search on.
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Company background, what they do and their success
Keep this brief and too the point as it is the actual role they will
be more interested in finding out about. Briefly describe the work
environment, such as, what the company department is like; casual,
lively, competitive, independent etc.
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Call to Action
Tell the candidate clearly what to do next. Tell them to apply online
there and then. If this is not stated, how will they know what to
do next?
Although it is important to get as much detailed information into
your description as possible, you must also make sure that it does
not drag on as candidates will get bored and move to the next job
in the list. Be sensible with the amount of writing you actually
put in.
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Further fields to complete...
Salary and benefits
An attractive salary and any benefits, such as, pension, company
car, private healthcare, holiday entitlement, flexi-time etc should
be specified in this field.
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Location
A key element of how people search for a job is location so make it
as accurate as possible. Specify the town/city, region and country.
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Restrictions/Screening
A mandatory field with regards to work permits/visa requirements
for the job must be selected. This restricts applicants applying for
jobs in Countries they cannot legally work in and helps reduce unwanted
applications.
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Contact
Email, Name and Tel is important - if this is missed out the
candidate cannot get in touch with you to follow up their application
or request further details.
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Reference number
This is for your own reference for the job you have registered.
This helps you identify your job for the sites you have chosen.
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If you want to increase your chances of the right type and quality
candidates applying to your jobs, then please take that little bit
more time to take a look at your job description and get it right.
Use keywords for the job in the title and description that are most
relevant to the job, so when jobseekers are searching for a job, they
will be more than likely to find your job!
Advantages of online recruitment is that it is fast and you can get
your advert on quickly, however, we do advise you to make sure that
the content you provide is accurate. There is no point spending money
with a job board because you are desperate to fill a vacancy and then
find yourself with no responses because the ad was not attractive
enough or didn't contain the right keywords.
Good luck with your job advertisement writing! Once you have completed
this stage, you can register your job and it will be active in minutes!
For more advice or guidance please email
us and we would be happy to provide further info on this matter.
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