How to write the best job description
There are two types of “best job description”.
One type of “best job description” is a piece of content that clearly and unambiguously lays out all of the details about a job, what its overall purpose is, the tasks that need doing regularly, who and what the job interacts with, the skills needed, etc. Its primary purpose is to inform.
It’s an important document because it sets out the scope for how it’s going to be filled and by what type of person. It’s also important for a whole host of accountability and compliance reasons.
The other type of best job description is a piece of content that attracts potential candidates to want to find out more about that job. This is more commonly known as “a job advertisement”.
You may think I’m being pedantic here, but the distinction is a critical one. It’s critical in that if one is exchanged for the other, the results would be counterproductive.
Allow me to explain…
When is a job advert better than a job description?
Imagine you have a beautifully crafted advert that sells the job really well. It’s under 500 words, speaks directly to the reader and their needs/wants and has a friendly yet professional tone of voice.
Then imagine sending that to a potential candidate who has already decided they’re interested in the job. Would it be what they needed to read at that particular time?
Probably not.
Now imagine someone who doesn’t yet know if they’d be interested in that job.
Would an 800-word job description sell it to them?
Definitely not.
Unless of course they happen to be in a job they hate and are desperate to leave. But even then, they probably won’t read the whole thing – which then opens them up to not having the exact experience the hiring company is looking for and ultimately getting rejected.
Is your ‘best’ job description trying to do the work of a job advertisement?
Probably the biggest reason a job posting receives too many of the wrong candidates is because those people didn’t read it, because it was long and boring.
The best job description is the one that’s actually read and understood. That is far more likely to happen once they’ve seen a job advertisement and are potentially interested and want to find out more.
The worst job description is the one that tries to do the work of a job advertisement and as a result, doesn’t get read, let alone responded to.
If you want to turn your boring job descriptions into job adverts that attract the right candidates at the right time, then you need to find out more about our advertising writing courses.
If you would like more thoughts and musings on recruitment, you might want to download Mitch’s free book “On Recruitment”.
