How to Write a Strong and Effective Job Description

The parts that make up a job description are diverse and each must serve a specific, defined purpose. Creating a template helps to speed up and standardize the writing process. The following guide walks you through creating a template with the use of explanations, suggestions and examples (based on those used previously).

 

Title

The title of a job ad has great relevance. In fact, it is one of the main elements to be discovered by active candidates, to be present among the results of searches made for certain keywords. It is therefore very important to focus on the use of common and standard keywords related to each individual role, avoiding overly niche definitions and terminology used only in your company.

 

Another important element that must be clearly evident from the title is the seniority sought, this helps to qualify (or disqualify) appropriate candidates from the unsuitable ones.

 

Adding a role specification in the title, using parentheses or after a hyphen, helps to qualify even better and allows you to add useful keywords to make your Job description (JD) appear in searches, also it seems that visually (according to some studies done) job descriptions with titles of 5-8 words have a greater ability to attract the attention and click of candidates than those composed of 3-4 words. 

 

The element included in parentheses can be a technology, a specific requirement related to candidates’ skills, a company benefit, or even a cultural element of the company that you intend to highlight.

 

Let’s take a few examples of effective Job Description titles taken from our Recruitment Canvas.

• CRM Manager (Build Our Retention from the Ground Up)
• CRM Manager – 3 Days a Week in Remote

• Front-end Developer (Mid-level, WFH)
• Front-end Development Manager – Innovative Projects, Major Customers

The first example leverages the freedom and autonomy that will be granted to the chosen candidate (implicitly it is also suggesting that this is a job in a company and not a consulting agency), the second focuses on a benefit, the ability to work from home. 

The third example specifies the level of the role and the ability to work from home, the last one emphasizes the challenge and opportunity to work on interesting projects, but provide continuity over time because of the stability of the clients (implicitly it is also telling candidates that this is a job for an IT consulting agency).

One last tip: try to use capital letters in the headlines as shown in the examples, it helps to catch the eye of candidates who are probably scrolling through many long pages of ads.

 

Attention Grabber

Following the headline we suggest you use a single sentence, at most two,  intended to grab the attention of candidates and better qualify your search. Use the traits identified as Company and Role USPs in the Recruitment Canvas as starting elements for writing this sentence.

 

This sentence is meant to ‘sell’ the position to candidates, to entice them to read the rest of the ad. Sometimes you may decide to structure this sentence in the form of a question. The idea is almost to challenge the reader to go on a career path with you, aware of how much the challenge requires and how much it can bestow on the chosen candidate.

 

Let’s give some examples:

 

1. Do you want to change the world with our green technology? The challenge is to implement a CRM strategy and build your team within two years.
2. Change the world with our green technology, join a young, dynamic team, and build your enterprise CRM function from scratch.
3. Do you want to work in a dynamic and challenging environment? If you are a front-end rockstar, you can achieve out-of-the-ordinary results (including financial ones…) with us.
4. We are consultants who work hard to achieve stellar results with the most advanced technologies and the most innovative frameworks; we seek only the best because we offer the best to our clients.

 

Let’s analyze the four examples. 

 

The first one emphasizes an initial question that qualifies the field in which the company operates (green industry) and that can be appealing, especially to a relatively young person targeted by the ad (so it qualifies someone who is sensitive to these issues). It then turns to the challenge, which defines two main elements: there is work to be done (building a CRM strategy from scratch and implementing it), but it hints at the reward involved, both implicit and explicit: if you do well in this role you will be able to build your team in the short term, and this represents an important opportunity for the candidate to grow (professionally, in seniority and salary) in the short term.

 

The second example approaches similar themes, but in a less challenging way, lends itself to probably being more suitable for less competitive candidates, and introduces the theme of team youth, implicitly telling those of a certain age that this role may not be the best one to apply for (please always try to be aware of the implicit bias you add your JD).

 

The third example makes it clear from the outset how things are at this company; the question implicitly conveys that this is a very ‘demanding’ workplace where those who perform well advance and make a career and money easily, while those who know they cannot handle certain rhythms and standards should refrain from continuing to read and apply for the position. The reference to salary growth and financial reward is very important in a competitive field such as software development resources. The use of the word ‘rockstar’ is a popular slang used in this context and again goes to emphasize the search for candidates with out-of-the-ordinary characteristics.

 

The last example once again focuses on the concept of excellence and the rewards associated with it, but does so in a somewhat less aggressive way; in this case the emphasis is also placed on innovation and the technologies used in the company, appealing to what is the fear of many developers (not having the opportunity to upgrade their skills and gradually losing competitiveness in the market). This announcement ensures dynamism and openness to change for candidates by attracting that segment of developers who are looking for such elements or who are dissatisfied with the traditionalist and dated approach of the current work environment.

 

Company Description and USPs

The responsibilities and activities performed in the job sought are crucial within the Job Description; they help candidates project themselves into the position and understand whether or not it is of interest to them. Ideally you need to answer the question, “What does the daily work in this job description entail?”

 

As you will remember you have already answered this question in the Recruitment Canvas, so I suggest you copy the content of this section and possibly expand it a bit by specifying it better and adding some possible tasks that may not have a daily cadence, but are an integral part of the job. Ideally you should not exceed 7 to 8 tasks, certainly beyond 10 you risk losing the interest of candidates or having made a mistake in identifying the purpose of the role or actually needing to open multiple positions.

 

Try to give some visual dynamism to your Job Description by making use of bullet points to list the duties and responsibilities of the role. 

 

In the opening sentence of this paragraph try to include the reporting line for the role so that candidates will understand to a better degree the seniority of the role and will have a glimpse of the company structure. If The role involves managing people add this information as well in the opening sentence.

Let’s proceed with our two examples.

The chosen candidate, reporting to the Marketing Director, will have the following duties as the primary purpose in executing their role as CRM manager:

• Creation of a user retention strategy and discussion with key stakeholders
• Interface with the marketing team to coordinate and align CRM activities with various marketing campaigns
• Coordinating the work of an external designer and copywriter using SCRUM agile methodology (Trello)
• Creating A/B tests for CRM campaigns
• Building emails with visual editors
• Building and refining marketing automation processes and user DB clustering
• Creating a retention KPI analysis framework, drafting and sharing weekly report with key stakeholders with data and related analysis

The Front-end developer, reporting to the Head of Development,  is expected to perform the following activities:

• Produce quality code
• Review code produced by your colleague (pair coding)
• Document the code produced in a clear and diligent manner
• Attend Scrum meetings and be responsible for declaring and reporting against the commitment of the sprint effort 
• Interface and report any impediments and problems with the head of development and product manager
• Interface with the Q&A manager to resolve any issues raised during testing
• Work and communicate effectively with designers and back-end developers
• Find innovative solutions to problems and share them with the rest of the team

As you can appreciate, in 7-8 points you can give a clear idea to candidates to understand the role sought and enable them to decide whether to apply for the position or not. Remember that excluding candidates who are not responsive to the needs of the role is in your best interest, so avoid hiding in the description of responsibilities and activities, those more boring and repetitive elements, as they say: clear deal, long friendship.

 

Requirements and Qualifications

Having clarified what the duties to be performed are, it is time to deal with the qualifications deemed necessary to be able to fill the role, the so-called requirements. These include prior experience, technical skills, behavioral qualities and traits, and last but not least, growth potential. You need to answer the implied question: ‘ What qualifications, experience and skills does the candidate need to fill this role?’

 

The best thing to do is to start with the Skills included in the Recruitment Canvas you have drafted and possibly add others. 

 

My advice is to list no more than seven to eight main requirements and possibly add an additional list of welcome and optional requirements (no more than 3 or 4). In any case, avoid including more than 10 requirements and qualifications in total. 

 

I recommend using the ‘1+3+3+3′ rule, i.e. list in this order a requirement of experience in the specific role and duration in the same, 3 hard skills required (including possible knowledge of tools) and 3 soft skills needed for the role and close it all with 3 additional skills that can also represent the candidates’ growth potential, i.e., willingness to learn these skills in the course of the job, if chosen.

 

Again, I recommend using easy-to-read text formatting, such as the use of bulleted lists (perhaps different from the one used above to give more reading dynamism, however avoid using increasing numbers because they could be interpreted as a scale of priority and value by candidates).

 

Let us return to our usual examples for the CRM Manager and Front-end Developer roles.

The ideal candidate has the following experience and has the following characteristics:

• 2 years of prior experience using a CRM tool
• Ability to work on a strategic user retention plan
• Ability to think about and structure marketing automation campaigns
• Analytical skills and abilities, aptitude for reading and interpreting data
• Be autonomous in managing your own activities
• Skills of precision and attention to detail
• Ability to collaborate with other team members

Also appreciated are:

• Ability to use advanced reporting tools such as Tableau and similar or willingness to learn more about such tools
• Creative writing and proofreading skills, or willingness to grow in this area
• Knowledge of the German language (our second largest market is Germany), or willingness to learn the language with courses paid for by the company

The ideal candidate has the following experience and has the following characteristics:

• 3 years working as a front-end developer in structured contexts (no freelancing only)
• Knowledge and experience with the angular.js framework
• Knowledge at C1 level and/or above of the English language (many of our clients speak English)
• Thorough knowledge of Javascript and CSS
• Skills of precision and attention to detail
• Proficiency in the most up-to-date design principles
• Ability to collaborate with other team members effectively (developer, designer, product manager, scrum master)

Also appreciated are:

• Experience with another front-end framework or interest in acquiring such skills
• FULL-stack programming approach (with primary front-end expertise) or willingness to adopt it through courses organized by the company
• Advanced use of Jira and Confluence or willingness to become a guru in that area

As you can appreciate in some of the basic and ‘core’ requirements the reason why this characteristic is important is justified, for example knowledge of English at a high level is essential for the second role as it is the official corporate and customer language. Desirable skills are not a ‘must’ and are therefore always accompanied by the possibility of learning them while on the job, they should be read more as a starting point for constructing questions about candidates’ potential at the interview stage. 

Those who, in fact, already have all the required skills and competencies probably see less challenge in the role and are also likely to be more senior compared to the position sought and not in line with the budget available.

 

Rewards and Benefits

We then come to an always much-discussed part of the Job Description, the part related to reward and answering the candidate’s implicit question, ‘What do I get in return for my job performance?’

 

Mind you, we are not just talking about the base salary (or making explicit the range you have set for each position); in this section you can bring together a number of elements of the Recruitment Canvas that include some of those mentioned in the Company/Role USPs and budget sections and other company benefits and pluses (including those related to culture) that you think are important.

 

Back to our examples.

 

The chosen candidate will get:

– A competitive and attractive base salary with the opportunity to join our stock options plan

– An annual performance-based bonus of up to 15% of annual gross salary

– A welcome package with our merchandise and a state-of-the-art Mac or Pc computer of your choice

– A tree planted in your name the day you start working with us

– A budget of 1000€ per year for training

– A budget of 1000€ per year to attend industry events and trade shows

– Access to a Mental Health app and a free monthly session with qualified psychologists

Participation in company events (including parties, dinners, team building events, and travel)

 

The successful candidate will get:

– A base salary at the highest market levels of between 70/90000 Dollars

– An annual bonus based on results achieved and up to 50% of the annual gross salary 

– A welcome package with our merchandise and a state-of-the-art Mac or Pc computer of your choice

– A budget of 5000$ per year for training

– Private medical insurance including dental insurance

 

As can be seen, the first company, a digital scale-up, decided not to provide the salary range in this example, but to highlight the stock options plan and focus on softer elements such as access to a mental health app and psychologists and participation in fun, team-building company events. 

 

The IT consulting firm, consistent with its goals, has decided to make the salary range public from the outset (in the example they know they pay above average relative to the context in which they operate) and highlights its extraordinary bonus of up to 50 percent. Consistent with what is written in the rest of the job description is also an emphasis on an abundant training budget.

 

Being consistent in this section with respect to what is written above is crucial. If a company insists on an element then it must be consistent all the way through. For example the first company in our example insisted very much on its green nature and willingness to attract people who have this cause at heart, consistent with this it vows to plant a tree in the name of the person hired on the first day of work, the story “holds up”, if on the contrary it had added among the benefits the company car, the consistency would have failed (unless the car in question is electric…).

 

Process

Making clear to candidates the steps necessary to complete the selection process for each role is an act of civility and ensuring the fairness of the process, is perceived by candidates very positively and at the same time excludes all those people who do not agree or are not willing to undergo certain steps. 

 

In my experience I have known people, especially at the senior level, who refuse to undergo any test of their skills or behavioral aptitude. It is useful to inform these people of the presence of such a step in the selection process so that they can decide whether or not to participate.

 

In this section of the Job Description you need to answer the candidate’s implicit question, “What do I have to do to get a job offer in this selection process?”

 

You need to look at the process from the candidate’s point of view, empathize with them, and include only relevant steps in this section (avoiding those handled internally). The Process section of the Recruitment Canvas can be very simply copied and possibly revised with appropriate additions and corrections. In this case a numbered list can be used since the steps are successive to each other and so giving the idea of a progressive order is fitting.

 

Here are the two examples.

 

CRM Manager:

1. CV screening (receive feedback on your submitted CV within two weeks anyway)
2. Interview with internal recruiter
3. Interview with hiring manager
4. Assignment and presentation with hiring manager and team
5. Reference check 

Front-end developer:

1. CV screening (receive feedback by 10/10/2022)
2. Online coding test
3. Interview with hiring manager
4. Interview with peer/team member

 

As can be seen in the two examples, it is intended to reassure that each CV will actually be viewed and that a response, negative or positive about it, will be given to each candidate. Sharing the process attributes professionalism and trust in your company and the process itself; candidates who are less inclined to start recruitment processes are reassured by such transparency. 

 

That trust needs to be confirmed with facts; changing the steps in the process in haste becomes very frustrating for candidates who lose interest in working for a company that cannot execute its plans even in a simple selection process. 

 

I remember participating in a selection process where all of a sudden, after the expected process had been explained to me twice, a final presentation was suddenly requested in order to finish the process. The company didn’t send me the outline to start working on that presentation, I was told they are waiting for the hiring manager to prepare it. Weeks went by; I realized that they were actually just stalling because in the meantime they had another interesting candidate available and were clearly keeping me as a backup candidate. When they finally decided to contact me with the outline to work on the presentation (evidently the other candidate had not convinced them all the way through) I declared my withdrawal from the selection process. No one wants to be a fallback choice… 

 

This is to say that changing the cards on the table after the games have started risks losing you the best candidates.

 

Legal Disclaimer

At the end of the Job Description you can include some legal terms and/or terms related to equal employer opportunity, i.e., the non-discriminatory policy your company adopts with regard to hiring employees, you can again include a link to a page on your website where these topics are addressed in more detail.

You can also add a note in this section aimed at Headhunters if you do not want to receive applications from third parties for this role.