Quality job descriptions attract quality people. This article offers a few tips on how to craft a job description that will capture the interest of great potential employees.

Today’s job market is a highly competitive one. As a recruiter looking for talent, you have to do your best to find skillful employees by effectively sorting through a large pool of applicants. Writing a dazzling job description is the first step towards attracting the right individuals to join your company. You have to make sure that you include all the information a potential employee would need to figure out if they would fit in with your team. The job description should effectively communicate your company’s requirements for applicants and benefits offered, as well as some information about the work environment.

The job description should be concise, clear, and correct. Start by defining the position, list the required skills and qualifications, and, if possible, encapsulate the company’s mission. Here are a few things an attractive and intriguing job description should include.

Company Overview

Even if candidates usually research the potential employer before applying for a position, it might be useful for them to provide a short description of the company. Include the company’s mission and goals. You can also offer details about the number of countries where the company is present or the number of employees it has.

Job title

The job title should accurately reflect the work that the employee will perform, as well as its ranking order with other jobs in the company. Make sure that the job title is free of gender or age implications and that it’s generic enough to be easily found by people interested in the industry. Keep in mind that in most online job searches, the job title is the main keyword searched. For instance, using terms like “guru” or “ninja” in a job title isn’t a good idea, as it might prevent experienced or more serious candidates from applying.

Job summary

After defining the job title, it’s time to move on to the summary. It should be clear and succinct – two or three sentences are usually enough. Be very clear about whether the position is full-time or part-time. The summary is a brief description of the position and includes the job’s main responsibilities. You can also list certain results the employee will need to achieve or key contributions to be made. Keep this area free of technical terms, acronyms or abbreviations – you will have time for that later on when you list the key responsibilities for the job.

Key responsibilities

For the job description to be easily readable, consider listing the key responsibilities in bullet points. This section usually includes between five and ten responsibilities. Make sure you use action verbs in the present tense for the job description to appear more dynamic. For instance, write “tests websites and identifies any technical problems” instead of “is responsible for finding technical problems on different websites.” The language is much more clear and simple in the first example.

To help the candidate form an idea of what a typical day may look like, be transparent about how often they’ll have to perform certain tasks. You can list these responsibilities from essential to non-essential, or from most to least time-consuming. Ideally, you should write one clear statement for each major duty. Only elaborate if supporting information is required to summarize the tasks.

Skills & Qualifications

This section lists all qualification that are mandatory for a future employee, as well as some qualifications that are preferred. You can include skills, experience, education and any additional certifications in this section. A good idea would be to list only minimum qualifications for formal training, education, and/or working experience. Otherwise, you might miss out on a superstar potential employee who avoided applying because he or she didn’t have the required experience. This section can also include information about any pre-employment assessment tests candidates will have to take.

In the same note, make sure that these skills and qualifications are realistic. It’s easy to imagine an ideal employee who is experienced and highly educated, but if you don’t have the budget to afford such and employee, focus on finding people with potential. Quick learners may cost you less and bring a fresh dose of enthusiasm into your company.

Benefits

A good idea would be to list several benefits that your company offers employees (medical insurance, vacation days and so on). If the company is open to publicizing the position’s salary range, even better. This way, the recruiter can avoid sorting through hundreds of applications from people with unrealistic salary expectations.

Contact information

This one goes without saying, but you would be surprised with how many job listings on the web don’t include any contact information. Leave an e-mail address for the applicants to know where to send their resumes. You can also leave a phone number, in case anyone has questions related to the job opening.

Overall, it’s best if you use direct language throughout the job description and steer away from fuzzy expressions. Do your best to illustrate the company’s personality, by choosing a writing style that matches its ideology. Also, use unbiased terminology; the he/she approach works, but it’s usually more elegant to construct sentences in such a way that gender pronouns are not required.

If you are careful and creative when coming up with the job description, there is a higher chance that you will attract quality applicants. Finding the right fit for the company will be easier and the recruitment process more pleasant and smooth. Good luck!