What is Job description?
In this article we will provide you the Importance of job description with making and Top tips and What to avoid.
Job description, loosely translated, means job or job description , to be more literal. It is, therefore, a breakdown of the position offered in a process , containing the minimum requirements for the candidate.
In it, you need to have some minimum requirements, such as:
- Position Responsibilities;
- Expected experience;
- Features that are differentiating;
- Employee Value Proposition (EVP) ;
- Benefits offered by the company;
- Details regarding organizational culture.
The description does not necessarily have to contain all of this information. However, some of them are key to demonstrating the benefits of working with your company .
It is important to never lose sight of the fact that this text is a kind of advertisement used in the advertisement of vacancies. Therefore, it can be strategic to contain essential information about the requirements and differentials of the function and company.
Therefore, it is necessary that this “advertising” is directed to a specific audience: people who have the hard skills necessary to develop the position’s activities and also fit into the company’s organizational culture.
It must be borne in mind that the most qualified (and desired!) professionals in the market have no problem getting several interviews and opportunities.
Therefore, it is important to take care of the attractions to attract this type of professional .
Thus, it is necessary to understand how strategic this attraction stage is, since assertive communication is much more likely to attract the type of candidate the company is looking for.
Of course, there are several other factors that influence to attract real talent , however, in this text, we will focus on that text that is usually the candidate’s first contact with your company.
How important is a job description?
No company opens a recruitment and selection process in order to hire any professional. Creating the perfect job description helps to avoid this.
It has profound impacts on organizational culture, after all, people hired anyway tend to leave the company quickly, increasing the turnover rate , causing financial losses and the loss of a well-established organizational culture.
Therefore, the job description must work as an advertisement that conveys the objectives and atmosphere of the work environment , attracting people who are really interested in being part of the team.
the benefits obtained by creating and having updated job descriptions are:
- It is the document that provides guidance for the talent attraction area to define and identify the talents that are required.
- It is the basis for correct remuneration to be assigned according to the functions and responsibilities of each position, aligning salaries, benefits, bonuses and incentives in a structured system.
- It gives clarity and the necessary information to the collaborator to perform their duties, so that they know what is expected of them and how they contribute to the organization.
- It is a fundamental piece to measure the performance of collaborators objectively in a fair and transparent system.
- Identify the training and learning requirements that the person in the position may require.
- It is an element to define succession and replacement plans in the organization.
- It helps to have an organizational structure aligned with the organization’s strategy, allowing positions and positions not to be duplicated .
How to make a job description?
There are some elements that cannot be missing from your disclosure text , but remembering that it is not interesting to do something too extensive, since it must deliver strategic information efficiently and quickly.
That’s because one of the problems with having a generic description is precisely the attraction of many candidates who are beyond the expected profile, making it difficult for recruiters to work in the other stages of the selection process.
Typically, topics that need to be covered by the job description are:
- Vacancy name;
- Description of the company and its culture;
- The qualifications required, involving skills and experience;
- The benefits and differentials offered; and
- Other information considered essential.
In these items, it is interesting to answer some questions that naturally arise when faced with a job offer:
- What is the role of the professional in the company?
- What will your position in the company hierarchy be?
- What are the responsibilities and expected results?
- Are there specific goals ? Which are they?
- What are the desired soft skills ?
- What is the starting remuneration for the position?
- How does the job and salary plan work ?
Below is a detailed description of each of the items and understand how to write a very persuasive job description that is true to your company’s organizational culture .
1. Name of the vacancy
It is the title of the vacancy. It’s usually the first item a candidate reads, whether it’s getting an email from a job platform or browsing LinkedIn, for example.
Here, it is important to draw attention without deviating from the objective of assertively defining the position that will be filled.
Try not to write anything long and with keywords that capture the interest of the interested party.
When making a description for job platforms , always think about the terms used by professionals to search for the position.
Therefore, it is interesting to carry out a research on the market and on the platform that you want to publicize the vacancy in order to understand which keywords are normally used to describe the position in question.
This helps not only to capture the professional’s attention, but also to position the ad in the top positions in search engines .
2. About the company
In this topic, some companies end up divulging their entire story, however, this is not the objective.
Here it is important to present the company and its culture (in other words, the mission, vision and values ) keeping in mind that not everyone will have prior knowledge about the company.
Avoid the “company was founded in…” style and bet on a “we are a dynamic and data-driven company…” approach, for example.
It is worth talking a little about the products , the target audience and other relevant aspects .
Don’t linger. Focus on key information that reveals the “personality” of the company, increasing the power to filter only the desired candidates.
3. Position requirements and responsibilities
Here, it is important to list all the technical skills and personality traits necessary to perform the role .
This is the moment to describe the expected formation, such as higher education and specialization courses.
You can detail some expected personality traits for the position, such as leadership and communication power, for example.
It is important that HR analysts talk a lot with the leadership of the department where the new professional will be allocated to understand what is really important for the position in this regard.
4. The company’s differentials
Why should professionals choose your company and not one of your competitors?
This is a question that must be answered very well in your job description in order to ensure that the candidate’s eyes light up with the possibility of working for the company.
Therefore, list all the advantages offered to employees, such as food stamps, transportation vouchers, health plan, flexible hours, the possibility of home office, etc.
5. Other useful information
Make the candidate aware of how the selection process steps will work, whether the hiring format will be CLT or MEI , for example, salary , working hours and similar details.
For example, non-flexible hours can weed out several candidates before they even submit their resume.
This may seem like a disadvantage, but it is interesting to eliminate them in order to optimize the selection process, having people who will actually be able to assume the position.
Top tips for job description
Now that you understand what job descriptions are and their fundamental information, we can go to some practical tips to keep in mind when writing.
Here are 7 tips that we have separated for you:
1. Make text simple and clear (without forgetting grammar!)
Creative headlines can grab attention, but they can also confuse the candidate.
So, instead of using “Rockstar Sales” it is possible to use Inside Sales as the job title and still create a super eye-catching text.
Another point that cannot be overlooked is the correct use of grammar . Companies that let several texts pass with errors in Portuguese make a bad impression on candidates.
A good solution is to ask someone else to rate the text and give feedback on its objectivity and grammar.
2. Text structure matters
We are in an increasingly digital world where information is delivered in small, easy-to-read blocks .
Imagine having to read a 15-line text to understand the minimum requirements for a job. If it sounded boring then it really is.
Therefore, use scannable resources such as bold , bulleted topics (lists) , text division by subject such as “about us” and “prerequisites”, for example.
3. Talk about the company in an attractive way
It is essential to show all the benefits of the company in a seductive way , showing the value it adds to the lives of its employees.
They are the ones who encourage the candidate to register the vacancy, making your company stand out in the competition for a qualified candidate.
It’s worth asking the marketing team for help if that’s the case. That’s because she is used to creating advertising texts. A great help to bring good results with an attractive job description.
4. Value diversity
A diverse corporate environment, whether due to cognitive or generational diversity , brings numerous advantages, such as the application of varied life experiences in solving problems.
Therefore, it is important to bear in mind that, in order to attract different audiences, the text of the advertisements institutionally reflects this desire.
In this sense, it is essential to pay attention to the law regarding the restriction of vacancies that do not value diversity.
5. Demonstrate the possibilities for growth
The professional development is something that people really interested in building a career in business to us vague disclosure texts.
Therefore, it is essential to talk about how career progression works in your company and even indicate the KPIs associated with the position.
In this way, stakeholders already understand what challenges await them if selected .
6. Be transparent about the salary range
Can you imagine someone asking how much you earn once they meet you? Weird is not it?
Despite being taboo , it is fair to say in the first contact how much the company is willing to offer.
This characteristic in the description of the vacancy makes the negotiation during the negotiation much more agile, saving the company’s and candidates’ time .
If it is strategic not to disclose this information, evaluate, at least, indicate a claim.
7. Describe the tasks and responsibilities
One of the most practical ways to attract truly qualified candidates for selection is to demonstrate the specific tasks and responsibilities of the position.
With this information, the candidate is able to visualize the normal routine and reflect if it is what he is looking for.
For example, consider hiring an HR analyst to handle the recruitment and selection process . You can’t write something generic like “HR support tasks”.
It is possible to be much more specific like “managing the company’s page on job posting platforms” and describing other tasks.
What to avoid in the job description?
As well as the good practices we talked about earlier, there are also some guidelines for what NOT to do when advertising a vacancy :
Lack of diversity in job description
This is a topic that we have already covered, but it is essential to reinforce it. The creation of a plural work environment starts with the selection of candidates.
So imagine women reading a text that is completely written in males.
It may not sound important, however, if your interest is to stand out from the majority and attract the best candidates, know that the details do matter.
Remember professionals with some kind of disability, the PwD . There are some vacancies that are limiting in this regard and it is necessary to pay attention to this.
unreal descriptions
Virtually every company wants to hire someone extremely capable, however, requiring four degrees and six years of experience for a junior position doesn’t seem coherent, does it?
This is a clear exaggeration, however, it is important to reflect on this in order to enter only the skills essential to the position and consistent with a candidate’s life journey.
Hostile tone in job description
The way the vacancy is presented tends to reflect directly on how the candidate sees the company.
Therefore, it is good to avoid texts such as “don’t send a resume if you don’t have leadership experience” and replace them with a more courteous approach such as “this is a leadership position, so proven experience in the field is important”.
Keep the company anonymous
Many companies make generic disclosures for their vacancies and usually the excuse for this habit is “I don’t want my competitors to know I’m hiring”.
This is truly a great way to have a lot of headaches when selecting because of the volume of candidates that has nothing to do with your business culture .
That’s a problem your HR doesn’t really want to have, is it? Therefore, the ideal is to publicize the vacancy with the company name.
