The All-Important Job Description

Recruiting and eventually hiring the right IT professional starts with a thoroughly written job description. Your job description is a foundation for the hiring process and ultimately the success of the people you hire. Get the job description right sets up the rest of the hiring process to move forward smoothly. Get it wrong and it could lead to a disastrous hire. I’ve seen many instances of hiring managers approaching a job description as a cut and paste effort. It’s more effective to look at every job description for every job opening with fresh eyes. Even if you’ve recruited for a specific position dozens of times, it shouldn’t become routine. Jobs, people, teams, technologies, etc. evolve and rarely do IT professional positions remain unchanged. Additionally, avoid viewing the job description as a simple list of qualifications and duties. It is also a pitch piece. You, and everyone else, wants to find top talent. It is a competitive landscape and your job description is the perfect place to make your pitch to qualified candidates. Here’s a few tips on how to craft your next job description.

No Nonsense Job Titles
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Your job titles should be clear and appropriate for the positions you are filling. Candidates should have a clear mental image of the job they are applying for via the job title. Titles that are misleading or overstated will not attract the right applicants. For example, if someone is hiring a retail cashier and lists the job title as Finance and Accounting Specialist, they will not likely attract the desired applicants.

Clear Qualifications

This should be clear, concise and easy for applicants to understand. A simple outline of required education, work experience, certs, etc. will do just fine for this.

Describe the Position

While an outline works well for qualifications avoid the temptation to simply outline tasks and responsibilities. This is your opportunity to tell a story. Describe the position and walk the candidates through their duties. The goal is that after a candidate reads this, they should have a solid idea of what a typical day will look like.

Avoid Jargon and Acronyms

Keep your message on point by using clear, easy-to-understand language. Avoid internal jargon or acronyms that candidates may not be familiar with.

The Pitch

Pitch both the position and your company. Explain why an applicant would want to become part of your team. Go beyond compensation and benefits and walk them through your company’s culture. This should be a nice peek inside the company, and employees like working for company’s they consider to be good citizens.

Ask for Help

Finally, enlist the help of people who actually perform the job. Have a few coworkers read the job description and offer feedback. It gets a set of fresh eyes on the task and provides the coworkers with a heightened sense of value.

Danielle Foppe is a Recruitment Manager at Business Centric Technology. If you are interested in learning more about how to get the best IT talent in the Dallas metroplex, contact Danielle specializes in recruiting IT talent in Dallas, Ft. Worth and North Texas. If you are looking for a rewarding career contact us today.