Whenever you read recruitment material you’ll notice that every text complains about how boring the job descriptions mainly are. Test it yourself and go to any job platform to read some descriptions of your own field of interest. It seems to be one of the biggest challenges for recruiters to stand out here. That can be deadly in highly competitive markets, where talent is rare. So, the question is, how can you make a difference? I will try my best to help you out here.
The Usual Issue
Often, I see recruiters post their descriptions in a very vague way, not getting too concrete about the job specs. There are a lot of words but no tangible points about the tasks, the benefits or salary. A lot of text to give just one simple message: “We’re hiring”.
No one gets appealed by that. Especially, when afterward the weapon of (candidate) mass destruction is drawn. By that, I mean the skills section, where recruiters suddenly lose their vague way and claim the craziest mix of competencies.
As a result, candidates don’t get excited by the role and back-off from the required skill-set, since they don’t fulfill it to 100 percent.
Appreciate Your Job Description
First of all, I guess it’s important to become aware of the value that a description can add to your recruitment process.
A job description helps YOU to understand the job itself. Don’t simply take the hiring managers words and post them. Rephrase it. Use your own words and understand it that way. It helps to understand the main issues of the position and become more aware of the candidates that suit the position.
I heard of recruiters, that have specifications about a job they’re recruiting for, but never bothered to write it down. Now, tell me how you get the attention of your candidates here. You can tell them on the phone. That means the candidates heard it once and forget it after some minutes. Give them something they can hold on and remind them about the essence that might pursue them to drop an application. The same counts for cold-messaging. After getting their attention, candidates will ask for more. This is your chance to gain their interest.
Another, rather obvious advantage of your description is, that you attract passive candidates. But here again: That won’t work if you have a vague description that doesn’t differ from the rest out there.
A proper job description doesn’t just help you acquire candidates, it also helps you prepare them for interviews and, therefore, increases the candidate experience. If your description is detailed enough, you can refer to it as candidates are preparing themselves. If that means you’d need to share too much information publicly, why not making a standard version for postings and an extended one for interview candidates?
Draw The Picture
Whenever I have the chance to discuss the issue of writing job descriptions, I like to say “you need to draw a picture”. What does that mean? It is quite simple. I want the reader (which will ultimately be the candidate that you want to attract) to envisage the company and role in their minds. Making it a beautiful picture in their imagination that already sets them in a positive mood before even applying. With their own vision, they shall already have an idea of how it is to work in the displayed place and start getting interested. Now, how can you do that?
There are a lot of approaches. You can try storytelling methods to share how a typical workday will look like. You can orient the content on the current challenges and the mission or challenge that the candidate will face.
For me, the easiest way to differentiate are numbers. That is because you’ll rarely see the same numbers at different companies. You can easily combine that with other unique selling points. During times, where employer branding is expanding to keep current employees, you can also use it to attract new ones. The simplest way is to describe the surroundings as you experience it. That includes how much users the product has, the team size, the interaction with various parties, the location characteristics, etc.
Always keep in mind, the goal is to make the future recruit dream a bit. So not to make it a nightmare, you should constantly keep a positive wording. From the moment he fictively comes into the doors, he needs to see what expects him until he leaves the office.
Create Flexibility
Now, that you lost the vagueness through drawing the picture, it is time to remove candidates’ restraints to apply for your position. To lose the stiffness of your description, which is mainly in the skills part, you need flexibility. That grants you a larger number of applicants and not necessarily less qualitative.
After receiving the requirements from your hiring manager, ask for every point of how important is it to succeed in the role. If there is something vaguely phrased, ask for specifics. Use variations to understand the importance clearly. For instance, though a distinction in “must-have” or “nice to have”. Or with a scale system from 1 to 10.
Again, this will help you to better understand what you are searching for and how to set strategies.
Another great way to save the hiring manager’s time is to ask which member of the team has the closest match to the searched profile. Then, you ask that person about his or her qualities. You can always send a final copy to your hiring manager to approve it.
Also, implement the results in your sourcing. For example, through several job descriptions. One which is very ambitious to attract the best-qualified people, then a second or third one to create a better delivery, but not to space out to futility.
Maybe some candidates will not perform at a high level from the beginning, but here you’ll generate a huge benefit for the candidate, which is development. The candidate will experience personal development through skills improvement, stay motivated that way and this, in turn, may support your employer brand. Just make sure, that you have the environment to guarantee this. If, on the other hand, the hiring manager gave you the right flexibilities, the candidate will still be able to execute the job. And you can use that as an argument.
Final Words
The job description is an important element in talent attraction. Don’t forget that. Moreover, it serves as an instrument to help you better understand the job specifics and figure out an applicable sourcing strategy. The candidate can use it for interview preparation and it supports his or her decision making.
Try things out, become creative, but don’t get frustrated if you don’t receive a vast amount of applications yet. This is a long-term approach and may take some time to come into effect.
Take your job description seriously otherwise you stay one of many.
