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Want Better Applicants? Write Better Job Descriptions

Every organization wants better applicants for their open positions. No matter if they’re looking for temporary employees or to make a direct hire, managers and supervisors everywhere would obviously love for all of their candidates to be high quality.

In a perfect world, we all would like to have the problem of choosing between too many qualified candidates. In reality, an employee search might not yield even one attractive applicant, even through multiple iterations. If you have been failing to find better applicants lately, one thing to consider is how you have described the job you are trying to fill.

Today’s employee candidates have more information at their fingertips than they ever have, and that includes the job market. They have a better idea of what fair compensation looks like, they are researching who their new coworkers might be, and they’re doing their homework on their potential new boss. If the candidate has done that work and gone forth into applying, it means they want more information—does your job posting provide it?

One of the key things preventing employees from taking jobs is the “fog of war”—what, precisely, their day-to-day job duties will entail and what they’ll be rolling out of bed to come into every day. Job descriptions traditionally speak to this in general terms, with the spirit of them designed to be around documentation. An employer who has an airtight job description can more easily dictate responsibilities and duties for their employee, which creates clear expectations and better evaluations and performance reviews. But your job description can also be a hiring tool, when wielded correctly.

At a time where good applicants are hard to come by, you will benefit from a job post that includes as detailed of a job description as you can give. We’ve written before about the importance of job descriptions for the employer; below, we’ll share those same tips, but with updated approaches you can use to make your job listings more appealing to quality candidates. The key thing to remember is that you are not speaking in terms of what YOU can offer—you should be considering your audience first. Just as you are looking for a candidate who suits your needs, your candidate is looking for a workplace that cares about theirs. What the job is doesn’t matter as much as why the employee will want it.

Your finished job description should include the following sections:

• Summary

Keep it brief, no more than one paragraph.

Attract candidates by: Avoid buzzwords and hype here. “You’ll be part of a family,” “Join a culture,” etc. all create the sense that you won’t speak in specifics about the job and overall expectations. You can be detailed while also remaining concise.

• Duties and Responsibilities

This is where you break down those essential vs. non-essential functions.

Attract candidates by: Illustrate what their daily workflow will look like. Are there big-picture implications their work is going to impact? Share those! People like to know what they’re going to be a part of, and where they fit into the plan. Even the less glamorous jobs with repetitive tasks serve a larger purpose; this is the place to explain that dynamic.

• Qualifications

Education and prior work experience.

Attract candidates by: Flesh out just how important some of these are, and treat them as guidelines if you can. If a candidate has limited work experience but you’re offering an entry-level position, point out that you’re more interested in their work ethic or attitude. Or, if you are hiring someone to head up a brand-new department and development experience is a must, explain that too. Leave no doubt about where you can be flexible and where you can’t. 

• Competencies

Skills with equipment or computer programs, certifications, etc.

Attract candidates by: Far too many job postings don’t speak to the person they’re trying to hire. People can grow, develop, and flourish in unexpected ways, and it’s important that your job posting reflects how much you value that. There are very few perfect candidates out there who will have a completely fleshed out résumé with all the skills and experiences you’d like to see. Instead, make it clear which skills you value most and which you are willing to help your employee grow into.

• Supervisory Responsibilities

If applicable, of course. Is your candidate going to have employees below them in the org chart?

Attract candidates by: If there is upward mobility in the position, your job description should include some kind of long-term outlook, within reason. You should not be promising a promotion to management right off the bat, of course, but if an applicant is considering two jobs and one is forthright about future growth opportunities, which one do you think they are more likely to accept?

• Working Conditions

Does the job require the position holder to be outside? To travel? To work in a loud or chaotic environment?

Attract candidates by: Again, be specific, and where possible, creative. Not every candidate will want a completely remote opportunity, nor will everyone want to work on-site all the time. Do you offer on-site perks? Team-building activities? Travel compensation? Maybe your candidate has been visualizing what it might be like to start a totally new lifestyle and your job fits it perfectly. If you can paint an accurate and (hopefully) exciting picture of what it will be like to start working for your organization—all of its idiosyncratic working conditions included—your candidate will be one step closer to accepting your offer.

There is of course no guarantee that every candidate will be swayed by a more complete, compelling job description. There is a complex calculus of decisions that employees all perform when deciding whether to apply for a new job. But by removing some of the uncertainty about your job posting and fleshing out a job description that gives an idea of what it’s like to work for you, you give yourself a better chance at landing a motivated applicant.

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