How To Write Effective Online Job Descriptions

Courtesy of Workopolis Campus
When writing your job description, your aim should be to maximize the number of interested, qualified applicants that respond. A common experience of employers is that they are deluged with too many resumés, and are unable to review them all.

By investing time and effort in crafting a well-written job description, not only will you streamline the hiring process by regulating the volume of responses you receive from your job postings, you will also optimize the quality of the candidates that respond.

Tips on Creating an Effective Job Description

Have jobseekers help you in the screening process by being very specific about the qualities you are seeking. This will minimize the time and energy spent on applicants that are not adequately qualified or genuinely interested in the position advertised.

Pick a very specific, descriptive job title.
This is the first thing that job seekers will see, and it will help them decide whether they have the right skill set and whether they are interested in applying for the position listed. An example would be "Registered Nurse -- Pediatrics."
Be very specific in the qualifications and skills required.
Instead of "computer skills" ask for "proficiency in Microsoft Office."
State a specific salary or salary range
This will discourage applications from candidates that are not interested in the salary being offered.
Include interesting facts about your company within the body of your job posting.
Candidates will often take into consideration the size, location, history, work environment and ownership of the company before they apply for an advertised job opening. Details on training programs and benefits programs may also be of interest.

The Structure of a Job Description

A well-crafted job description will outline the duties and responsibilities of the position, identify the skills and qualifications required to perform the required tasks, provide information on the company, describe benefits and salary, and give the reader a sense of the work environment.

It will typically discuss the following areas:

Job Overview
Duties and Responsibilities
Skills and Abilities
Education and Training
Experience
Contact Information
Other Information
A. Job Overview

This should be a two or three sentence summary that clearly defines the role of the position and answers the question 'Why does the job exist?'
B. Duties and Responsibilities

This section focuses on the tasks related to this position.

This is where you go into greater detail on what the employer's expectations of the incumbent of this position are. The information you provide should assist job seekers in evaluating whether or not they are qualified and whether they are interested in pursing this opportunity.

Sell the position to job seekers by listing what he/she will be doing in this position, the projects that will be worked on, the initiatives that are on the go, as well as anything else that will generate interest and enthusiasm in potential candidates. The principal duties should be listed in order of importance. They should answer the questions: What is the task, how it is performed and why it is done.
C. Skills and Abilities

List the key skill areas for the job. This may be familiarity with a particular software package or a given piece of machinery, or the ability to multi-task in a busy work environment, and so on.

D. Education and Training

Indicate the minimum level and type of formal education required of an incumbent. This qualification may take the form of a particular educational degree, a technical certification, a professional designation, or the successful completion of a training program.

To avoid limiting your pool of qualified candidates, consider indicating that related experience can be substituted in the place of a formal diploma.
E. Experience

Indicate the areas of expertise and the number of years of actual work experience the incumbent will need.

F. Contact Information

Instruct interested job seekers on how they should apply for the position advertised. Provide a means of applying for your opening, and if desired, the name of a contact person to whom applications are to be directed.

One or more of the contact methods below can be listed:

Phone number
Fax number
Email address
Mailing address
Company website

Exception: If you will be using the Resume Manager, it will not be necessary to include contact information on your job posting.

G. Other Information

Anything that has not been covered up to this point should go here. For example:

shift and weekend work will be required
frequent travel required
driver's license required
Congratulations!
You have successfully created a job description.

There may be some adjustments you may wish to make to improve upon the visual presentation of the job posting. If so, you may make these edits on the job posting form itself.