Writing a compelling job description can feel like one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks you face when you're recruiting for a new role, especially when time is against you.
What do you focus on? How do you talk about those really specific requirements? What do candidates really need to know?
With so many jobs out there, how do you cut through the noise and ensure that the best candidates are getting excited enough to apply to your company?
Here’s a rundown of five things you can do to write a great job description...
Get candidates invested with your opening statement
However your job description is structured, the opening statement is always the most important in drawing potential candidates in.
On Otta, when a candidate sees a job card, it’s always the first 2-3 requirements that they read first. Therefore, it’s important that you state something that’s open and encourages candidates to read on.
We suggest phrasing your opening statement as “we’re looking for…” as opposed to “you are…” in order to engage readers from the get go.
As an example, we’ve found that saying
“We’re looking for a creative product designer with an keen eye for detail and a passion for building best in class products”
Is a stronger opening statement than
“You are an experienced designer with 3+ years of experience”
Consider how important experience really is
Including specific experience requirements in a job description will put some candidates off, particularly those from underrepresented groups, so it’s important to reflect on what’s actually important.
If you do have specific requirements that you’d like to reference, make sure that you’re being realistic. Does your ideal candidate really need to have B2B sales experience in a FinTech? Do they really need deep experience across lots of different technologies?
For example, if you’d like some with startup experience for a Product Manager role you could put
"Experience within product management is a must and you've probably spent time within a fast-growth company before"
Or, if you need them to be more experienced you could say
"You'll have probably spent some time managing or mentoring more junior team members"
Prioritise your technical requirements
Similarly to years of experience or industry knowledge, technical skills are often a component of a job description, particularly in engineering.
It’s always worth reconsidering how important certain skills are, especially when you’re hiring at scale.
If there are specific technical skills you need then you could say
“Experience with Java is a must. We also use [list of other technologies] in our tech stack and so experience with them is a big plus. If not, you need to be keen to learn how to use them”
Or, alternatively, you could put
"We don't require a specific number of years experience, but you'll be familiar with Ruby and how to use it"
For some context, at Otta we use this as our opening statement to ensure that we’re attracting a diverse range of candidates.
“We’re open-minded to your background (no degree required). We care about what you can do, not what you have done”
What will the role really look like
It’s important to take the opportunity to share some context about the role and what makes it exciting.
Too often requirements read like a shopping list of desirable attributes that do little to get a candidate interested in a role. The best performing companies are taking every opportunity to sell the role, the company and their culture.
For example, you could take this requirement
“You’re interested in sustainable investing”
And make it into
“You want to work on a ground-breaking new product within the sustainable investing space and have a passion for bringing exceptional ideas to life”
Alongside this, it’s important to share what the job will actually involve. Candidates are always looking for more context on what day-to-day work will be involved in order to decide whether they want to apply for a job. Who will they be working with? What that’s aim of their role? How does it impact the wider company strategy?
Share some additional info
We encourage you to share some additional information about the role because there’s always more context that you can share to educate a candidate about an opportunity.
There’s lots of context you can add — What’s the interview process for this role? Can you share some more details about your investors (if you have them!)? What’s in your tech stack?
If you’re an early-stage business, stating what # employee the candidate will be (either overall or in their team) is a great way of creating intrigue and setting some subtle expectations.
Whatever you decide to include, just make sure it’s engaging and gets candidates invested in your work.
Supercharge your hiring with Otta
Are your job descriptions missing the mark? They seem like a simple thing, but great candidates use them as an indication for how your business thinks, treats it people and sets standards.
If you think you can do better, you probably can. In 15-minutes we can show you how your competitors are leveraging JDs to woo the very best candidates, and how you can raise your own bar with Otta.
