Are You Using a Job Description 2.0?

Now, we all know the basics about preparing a good external job description, e.g.job title, job description and person specification – and we must get these things right if a job description is going to stand even half a chance of achieving its objective, which is to entice quality candidates to make that job application.

However, the candidate market has become so competitive for niche and specialized jobs that simply putting a functionally representative job description out there is not enough to get your vacancy noticed. With reduced costs of recruitment advertising and easy job board distribution systems, there is most likely a sea of similarly titled and similarly presented job descriptions.

In order for your job description to stand out and be noticed, you can’t just rely on luck; you need to deploy a clear marketing and differentiation strategy around your job description to effectively sell your role to your marketplace. Your job description must become a fully fledged marketing document which extends its reach far into the social media marketplace – a kind of job description 2.0 – and to that end I have outlined 6 tips to help you do just this.

1. Imaginative Job Title:An interesting study by Viget’s which found that jobs with a creative job title and innovative narrative increase the quality, focus and relevance of the resultant job applications. While I accept that this study does not have Harvard Business School levels of academic rigor, it did work for them and it could work for you. So, I think it could be worth a try. The best way to try this in your own business is to do a search for jobs, on whichever jobs board that you plan to post your job on, and then review the search listings. Understand what a standard listing looks like and appreciate what a rare, unusual one that catch your eye looks like. It is these later more innovative job titles that should inspire the creation of your own imaginative and eye catching job title.

2. Search Friendly:Most jobs boards rank search results based on keyword relevancy, so ensure that your job description includes several mentions of the most popular search term for the role you are recruiting for. If possible, include this key search term in the title as well for greater relevancy and ranking potential.

3. Talk about the company and culture:A recent survey by ICMA International of 7,000 people found that a pleasant working atmosphere and a good work-life balance were two out of the top three most important factors when choosing an employer. So, firstly ensure that you develop a great culture, then make sure you shout about it in your job description, either as a section dedicated to culture or by interspersing it throughout the job description.

4. Allow social media sharing/employee referrals: Use a tool like Meshhire (there are other similar tools on the job market ),which allows you to share your job posting with your social network and enables your network to receive rewards for referring quality talent to you. Place the job description on your own company careers site too and put social media buttons on there to.

5. Include Audio or Video:Why? According to Careerbuilder research, job postings with video icons are viewed 12% more than postings without video and receive a 34% greater application rate. So, either use a job site that lets you embed video or link to a video within your job description.

6. Talk about the hiring manager:A Kelly Global Services survey of 134,000 people in 28 countries found that the ‘negative relationship with line manager’ was one of the top five reasons that people quit jobs. This shows that the management style and approach of the hiring manager will be crucial in attracting and retaining talent. So, be innovative here and devote a section of your job description to describing what it is like working with the hiring manager, eg. what type of person works best with them, what’s their style and background. You could even link to their LinkedIn profile, assuming it is completed and contains recommendations.