How To: Write An Effective Job Description

June 04, 2014 Magda

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One of the most important parts of a company is making sure you recruit a team that not only meets the criteria you’re looking for but also fits the culture that is established.

When the time comes for you to hire new team members, the first thing you will need to do is advertise a job role. For that, you will look for the best platform you can find (ehem, JobFluent!) and then write a job description. For startups, job offers are often the first impression a prospective jobseeker has of your company, for this reason, you want to start off on the right track.

That being said, if you want to attract the best talents, there are a few rules that you should follow in order write a successful job description. We see hundreds of job descriptions everyday and can identify the good, the bad and the ugly so I thought it appropriate to help you out with this task.

The first tip I have for you is to keep it simple, clear and direct –a professional looking for a job will be more attracted by a company that knows exactly what they are looking for. Make sure you’re focusing on the basic information: Who you are, what you need and what you offer.

After you’re clear about that, follow my suggested guidelines:

Use proper language

Although this should be obvious, it’s frequently forgotten. Here are some tips:

  • Use a concise language, but without being cold
  • Use short sentences
  • Avoid the overuse of adjectives
  • Use a gender-neutral language (use “his/her” or avoid gender pronouns)
  • Finally: read it twice, correct every single typo and delete everything that is not absolutely necessary

Don’t forget formatting

Although this should be obvious, it’s frequently forgotten. Here are some tips:

  • Bullet points help with speed and better readability, use whenever possible
  • Use bold typefaces or subtitles to make clearly visible the different points of the job description
  • Use short sentences (yes, we’re repeating this because it’s that important)

Write about you

At last, you may include a longer and attractive description of your company, its philosophy and its situation. Why should anyone dedicate 40+ hours a week of their lives to your company? Try to answer this question in one or two sentences.

Here is schematic proposal for a job description:

1. Job Title.  The position you are offering (in two or three words).

2. Brief description of your company.  The objective here is to introduce your business to the jobseeker: what does your company do, which are your goals, how big is the company and why are you hiring. Make it as short as possible, you can give complementary information about your business later.

3. Summary of the job nature and level.  Make a very brief but accurate description of the position and the academic and experience level you expect from the applicants (for example: We are looking for a community manager with at least two years of experience managing accounts of more than 100K followers).

4. List of individual tasks.  List and detail some of the most important tasks the employee will be in charge of.

5. Role inside the company/work group.  Which will be the role of the new employee in the company. How big is the team they will work for? Will he/she have people in charge? Who will he/she report to?

6. Tools available to fulfill the tasks.  Make a list of the relevant tools the new employee will have to work with on a daily basis and make it clear he/she must be familiar with them (it doesn’t hurt to specify a level of expertise).

7. Requirements.  List the academic, professional and even personal qualifications an applicant must have to apply for this position: studies, work experience, languages, availability to travel, social skills, etc. Be sure to mention highlight the traits you consider more important and let to the end what may be relevant and convenient but not mandatory.

What do you offer ?

Face it: jobseekers want to know what you are willing to give them for their work. To include in the offer a few hints on the job conditions is a must and the only way to be sure that everyone applying to the job is really interested in it –if someone doesn’t agree with your conditions, he/she will just not apply to the job and you won’t lose your time in useless interviews.

8. Job Location. Where is the company located? Is remote work possible?

9. Working hours. Is it a full time or partial time job? Are there scheduled work hours?

10. Salary range. Give an approximate amount of the budget you allocated for this position. Include any extra benefits (health insurance, transportation, stock options, etc.).

11. Type and duration of the contract. Is there a trial period? Are you looking for a long term employee? If not, what’s the minimum duration of the contract?

12. Perks. Sometimes the littlest details have the biggest impact. Make sure you include perks that other companies might not be able to provide… casual dress code? fully stocked snack pantry? foosball table? free parking? Yes, add them!