How to improve your job description in 3 steps

Writing CV

The job description is a candidate’s first touch point with your company. It can cause a flood of ideal applicants to come knocking on your inbox, or return a hodgepodge of candidates from a mix of industries, backgrounds and experience levels. Getting your job description right is the first step to hiring your dream employee. But it also offers an additional benefit. An effective description can save you days or even weeks of time filtering through CVs. So how can you write a job description that attracts the ideal candidate and repels the unqualified?

We recommend the following 3 steps.

1. Ensure the person writing the description understands the job
Some companies believe writing a job description is a menial task. And for this reason, sometimes an admin or person who doesn’t understand the role is assigned to write it. When this happens, small details about the job are often overlooked, such as the workload and day to day duties. The result is an unclear, and sometimes inaccurate, picture of the job that can attract the wrong applicant or be misleading. To avoid this scenario, we recommend that your job description writer consults a staff member with a more in depth understanding of the role, such as a hiring manager or a current employee from the department where the candidate will work.

2. List crystal clear qualifications
Clear qualifications act as a filter that prevents a flood of unqualified candidates from contacting you. In other words, it can save you time and headaches from having to review a pile of CVs. Details to consider including are your ideal candidates’ years of experience, the specific types of skills they possess, and the languages they can speak. For example, a recent job description we posted for an Assistant Product Manager role lists “Familiar with digital frameworks such as Hook, ZMOT.” Another job description for a Marketing Manager of Beauty Products lists “3 years+ experience in marketing and product management” and “Excellent communicator (proficient in English language)” as two qualifications. Requirements like the above automatically filter out candidates who have basic English skills, one or two years of experience in marketing, and aren’t familiar with Hook and ZMOT.

3. Keep your description updated
In today’s fast changing job market, it’s important to reevaluate a job description if you repost it in the future. The skills and qualifications you listed a few years ago may no longer be relevant today. What’s more, your business may be in a different place than it was when you first wrote the description. Perhaps the company’s goals have changed or you’re expanding into new markets. These organizational changes are almost certain to affect your job description’s content.

Remember, your job description is the first step to attaining top talent. While it’s easy to shrug off as an insignificant admin task, we recommend treating your description as an investment in your company. The more your job description aligns with your businesses goals and clearly defines requirements, the better chance you have of reeling in your next all-star employee.

If you need help recruiting outstanding talent for your next role, consider Criterion Asia. Our experienced consultants have a deep understanding of Thailand’s talent market and can help you find the ideal candidate for your business’s next stage of growth. Get in touch today to learn more.