Why Every Job Description You've Ever Written Sucks
When hiring a new employee, the first step most companies take is to write a job description for the open role. The job description creation process varies from employer to employer, but the results seem to be universally terrible.
Why do employers so consistently fumble through this essential task? Well, because they...
copy and paste from other descriptions on the web
ask external recruiters to write their description for them
have an HR person serve as the go-to job description creator
write a description that focuses primarily on their needs, instead of the needs of their ideal candidate
If these are bad ideas, what’s the right approach? Let’s break down the pieces!
As with any writing task, the first question you should ask yourself when creating a job description is, “Who is my audience and what would I like them to do after they read what I’ve written?”
Your audience is probably those talented people that you’d like to hire. What would you like them to do? Take action and indicate interest, of course!
The hiring manager for the position should be deeply involved in the description-creation process. It’s likely that they’re the person who best understands what the new hire will be responsible for and what they’ll need to be successful.
Other people who have strong influence on the hiring process should also be involved. One thing's for sure: if you have an HR department, they should be reviewing job descriptions, not writing them. The person who most expertly understands the open position should provide the vast majority of the content for the job posting.
You can reduce the duties of the description down to three discrete parts:
Describe: The duties and expectations of the position
Filter: Whether or not someone is qualified for the position
Sell: The appeal and upside of the opportunity at hand
Your audience should fully grasp each of these pieces or your job description is failing.
While your job description should do each of the three duties listed above, it shouldn’t do them all at once.
Mixing “selling” with “describing”, for example, can have disastrous effects on your audience’s understanding of the core content.
Watch out for unreasonable “filtering” content also. Descriptions that contain an unrealistic list of requirements put off good candidates - it makes them question your company’s competency.
What is a Mighty Spring Job Description and How Do I Make One?
Realistic and well-defined responsibilities and requirements attract good candidates and help filter out bad ones. Mighty Spring is making the creation of a good job description a snap by walking you through the process step-by-step.
Want to be one of the first to try it? Request an employer beta invite!
