Want to attract top talent? Start with a great job description to bring in better quality candidates. Get started on your job description.

If there’s one thing recruiters know well it’s that a job description can make or break the process of hiring when you’re looking to expand your team. Recruiting isn’t about getting a record number of resumes through the door, it’s about identifying the perfect person for the position, and for the company.
The competition to find and hire top talent is fierce! Failure to communicate an accurate job description invites a multitude of speculative applications that only serve to waste your time…and the applicants. So if you care about hiring the best person for the job, taking your time in creating a detailed and accurate job description will save you time and let’s face it a lot of headaches in the long run. Don’t type out the job description in 5 minutes or copy and paste from a template and post it with the expectation of finding the perfect candidate and succeeding in a timely manner, you have just succeeded in dooming yourself to failure from the outset.
So, how do you write great job descriptions? Here are the essential elements to consider when you start writing a job description:
•    Responsibilities– first of all, take time to identify the key responsibilities involved in the position. List essential details and specifics that will help the applicant form an idea of what the overall expectations are in the role. Our advice would be to explain the day-to-day functions as well. Be honest. It helps the applicant get a feel for what their day will look like.

•    Qualifications- consider the type of person that is best qualified to perform the job. What skills and qualifications do you expect applicants to have, what do you want to see in regards to experience and the criteria they should meet? Be transparent… what skills are mandatory vs what skills are preferred. For example, if you work in the Fashion industry a core skill might be “A bachelor’s degree in fashion or related field”, while “sense of style” or “retail experience” is more of a nice to have.

•    The Applicant- you’ve covered responsibilities and qualifications, but what other aspects of the candidate are important to success in the job role? Make sure you make it perfectly clear what type of applicant you are looking for to ensure you don’t have your time wasted by people that are not suitable for the position. If you need someone that’s flexible with hours or willing to travel, be straight up from the start. Don’t surprise your candidate after the fact with key elements required in the role.

•    The Company- part of attracting the right people to your company is providing information within your job descriptions that speaks to the right type of person. Fitting into a company’s culture is of great value to building successful teams. If your company puts value on balancing work and fun in the office, say so. A recent job description across our desks clearly laid out that April Fool’s Day was a big deal in their office. So consider the type of applicant you want and what perks and benefits would be of interest to them, and ensure that you emphasize the importance of them in your job description.

•    The Team- talk, brag, even show-off a little about the great people that are already in your team. Great talent attracts even more great talent and if you want to build a successful team then you should use the people you have as a glowing example of what the applicant could achieve within your business. Think; Why join our team? Profile awards, achievements, successes of the team. We’ve even seen job descriptions with links to the teams Linkedin profiles. Smart!

•    Putting it all Together- getting the job description right is vital to recruiting the right candidate for your job roles. Think of it as a way to sell yourself to the perfect candidate. Use the first three sentences of your job description to sum up what you are really trying to communicate, think of it as your hook in order to keep the right people reading. Once you have your introduction, you can slot in the rest of the information.

Proforce Top Tip: Sell The Role – It’s your job to market and “sell” the position so you recruit Top Talent! “Tell and Sell” the potential candidate not just about the role but about your company’s vision, values, goals and environment. Top talent is just a job description away!