9 tips for writing a job description your ideal candidate won’t bypass

Employers winning the war for the best talent know the importance of writing a job description that stands out.

A job description that will show up in the search results of your ideal talent pools. One that acts like click-bait to read more. And one that showcases exactly why they should apply. Get it wrong and there can be a huge swing in the number of applicants you receive. Simply omitting a postcode can result in 50% fewer applications, and a ‘competitive salary’ will be 20% less effective than a specific salary, according to Total Jobs’ Job Optimisation Guide. (‘Competitive’ is therefore anything but so!) With over 10,000 job descriptions written in our nineteen years in operation, we thought we’d share our best tips for success.

1. Simple job titles work best

A job title is the first thing that a candidate sees as they skim through the ads. It’s therefore the most important part to get right. Keep these points in mind and you’ll be on track for success:

• Consider what your ideal candidate is looking for. Now is not the time to ‘think outside the box’! Stick with normal job titles.
• Avoid acronyms or abbreviations. Some acronyms will be industry standard, such as CIPD qualifications in HR. However, most will be jargon.
• Be precise
• Don’t mix multiple roles or levels. Otherwise, candidates may believe they are above or below the job and keep on scrolling.

2. Entice your readers

Most job sites will include a brief three or four line overview of the role. Make sure you sell yourrole in those first opening lines, so candidates want to read more about what’s on offer. 

Tip: Some job sites will automatically pull through snippets from within your job description – not necessarily from your opening statement. Play around with the ad to maximise the impact of those first few sentences. 

3. Location, location, location: Be specific

Location matters to candidates and whether a job is located on one side of a town or city can make all the difference to their commute time.

According to Total Jobs, roles advertised with a full postcode attract over double the applications as those posted to a town or county.

• Provide a full postcode if you can
• On some job sites, if a job isn’t a clear match with a candidate’s search area it won’t show up in the results e.g. Didsbury +10 miles won’t include a job posted to Manchester because it could be as far north as Middleton.

4. Determine a salary benchmark for your role

A word of caution:  Whilst some online tools are up-to-speed, be wary. One of our clients came to us after they had carried out a comprehensive salary benchmarking activity and they were wondering why they couldn’t find the candidates they were looking for. The salary benchmark was off by up to £7K on some roles (a 20% difference).  A decent recruitment agency should provide salary benchmarking as part of their retained services.

5. Salary – be attractive (and don’t be vague)

Jobs with a salary displayed on the job ad attract up to 20% more applications.

Most of us work to live, so salary talks. Nobody is going to move jobs if they don’t feel the remuneration package is attractive. ‘A competitive salary’ is going to make your employer brand anything but competitive in the eyes of candidates.

According to Total Jobs research, candidates are more likely to respond to ads with a specific salary over one stating a ‘competitive salary’ or a wide salary range.

6. Don’t forget your benefits (and perks)

Candidates are growing increasingly attracted by the benefits and perks offered by companies. Consider what your ideal employees would value and then consider what options are available in your organisation to make this happen. Promote benefits such as pension, healthcare and perks such as flexible working, free coffees or duvet days. Place these in the salary description too so they stand out.

Three-quarters of UK employees favour a job that gives them the option of flexible work schedules – 70% more than in 2017, according to conference call firm   Powwownow.

7. Spelling and formatting – always proof-read your job ad

It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many job ads are littered with spelling and grammatical mistakes. It’s a major turn-off for professional candidates, so make sure you:

• Get a (meticulous) colleague to proof your ad for spelling and grammatical errors
• Ensure it’s easy to read. Bullet points and short paragraphs are a job advert’s best friend.

8. Make your ad mobile friendly

Catch the candidates checking for jobs on the long slog into work on the train – or venting and checking out job boards on the sofa after a bad day in the office.

Over 50% of job searches are made via mobile.

• Ensure pages are mobile responsive i.e. do they adapt to the screen size?
• Use mobile-friendly features such as auto-suggest and the ability to upload CVs from the cloud.
• External application forms should be easy to complete on mobiles.
• Consider applicant tracking software (ATS) which pre-loads applicants’ details into your system from job sites.

9. Showcase your employer brand

You’ve carried out your employer brand review. Now it’s time to let your brand shine in your ad. 

Let candidates know what your values are – and what you value in employees You may be a green-focused brand or a company that is always one step ahead of competitors. 

Consider branded job ads Branded job ads with images and videos attract job-seekers and help them learn more about your company. 

Does your website entice candidates? Candidates will check out your website, so make sure it has a ‘Careers’ or ‘Work with us’ section that lets them get to know what it’s really like to work for you – from how the role fits within the organisation, to the management team and the company culture. 

Promote and engage on social media LinkedIn is generally the most influential professional networking site for job roles. Ensure you follow best social media practices to show candidates what your company values (i.e. a mix of third-party industry news, educational content you have created, promotional content and posts that showcase your company culture).

Tip: If your website and social media are not yet up-to-speed on the employer branding front, some recruitment retained services offer branded mini-careers websites to help promote your brand. Be sure to check out an agent’s social media following too, as this will be important when advertising the role. 

Make sure every aspect of your recruitment process improves your employer brand with our step-by-step employer branding checklist.

Download our full guide on the 7 Ways To Win The War For Talent for more tips.