May 6, 2024 Avilla Area Chamber Team
As a small business owner or a hiring manager, you know the importance of finding the right candidate to fill your open positions. The success of your company depends upon the quality of who you hire. Knowing how to ensure your job listings attract the best to join your team starts with a compelling job description.
Often the first impression of your business for potential candidates is a job description. Because of this, it should set the tone of your business’s culture and the realistic expectations and role of the candidate in the available position.
52% of job seekers say the quality of a job description is very or extremely influential on their decision to apply – Indeed
How to Attract the Right Candidates
- Be attentive to using proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and terms that pertain to the field and role of the position, avoiding slang and acronyms.
- Use inclusive language to not discourage diverse candidates from applying.
- When creating the job description, be as detailed as possible, without making it pages long, confusing, or overexplanatory.
- Highlight the features that make your company a great place to work and that make the open position an exciting opportunity for candidates to attain.
Key Elements to Include
- Select a clear and concise title used across your industry for the position.
- Give a short overview of your business, its mission, and its core values.
- As briefly, yet as explanatory as possible, cite the purpose of the available position and how it impacts your business.
- List the must-do primary duties, responsibilities, and expectations for the position in a concise, yet short descriptive manner. You may want to outline daily, weekly, monthly, and/or yearly tasks that play key roles in the success of the role.
- Cite the qualifications for the job, which may include education and degrees, experience, and soft and technical skills.
- Showcase your business’s best benefits, such as insurance, vacation time, retirement plans, professional development opportunities, etc.
- Specify the location (address, city, and state), work days/nights, hours, and salary (or salary range) for the position.
- Note if there are any requirements such as a drug screen, background check, etc., for qualified applicants.
- Describe how applications are being accepted by giving the contact name, email, website address, mailing address, or hours of operation, whichever applies, as well as the deadline you will no longer accept applications.
Utilizing this guide, you can not only create a stand-out job description that will pique the interest of qualified talent who are excited about the chance to work with a company such as yours, but you will also save yourself time in sifting through candidates who may not be qualified or genuinely interested in your open position.
Preparing a thoughtful and compelling job description is crucial in representing your business and its character, as it is often a first impression and an opportunity to grow your team with the right talent.