Detail Insights

Are you concerned about the hiring procedure when you are receiving many applications, but none seem to be suitable?  If you want to recruit the top candidates, you must take the time to write a compelling job advertisement that is a complete record of the required skills, responsibilities, behaviors, knowledge areas, education, etc that you are seeking in a candidate. Many times, a lot of recruiters write their job descriptions without paying close attention, which leads them to an incorrect candidate pool with unrealistic expectations.

A job description is your company’s ad that your ideal applicant should find compelling enough to apply and help them qualify for the role as well. As a result, it is critical to identify and eliminate any faults you might be doing when drafting a job description. Here are some common mistakes we frequently see in job descriptions, along with some tips on how you can make your job descriptions more effective.

Reusing the Same Job Descriptions for Years

Just like everything else in life, responsibilities for a particular role also tend to evolve as time passes. Reusing the same job description year after year can jeopardize your chances of hiring the right candidate for your role as responsibilities specified in a job post can differ from past role requirements. However, we aren’t saying you can’t refer to a previous template or job posting. It’s a great place to start, but you should always customize and write a unique job description to precisely define your hiring role.

Making Errors in Grammar and Formatting

As previously said, the job description represents your company. Therefore, any spelling, grammatical, or formatting errors may give potential employees a negative impression of your company. Make sure your job descriptions are error-free to spare yourself from embarrassment.

Using Hard to Understand Jargon

Sometimes to sound like a modern, smart workplace, recruiters end up using complex terms and acronyms while describing the position they are hiring. However, even seasoned experts frequently don't understand the meaning of specific corporate jargon. Using such jargon can make your job descriptions hard to read, which can deter qualified candidates from even applying for the position.

Not Making a Difference Between Desired and Required Skills

It's common for recruiters to ask candidates for a qualification or skill that the position does not need, but that they would prefer the candidate to have. To draw candidates from the correct skill area that is necessary for the position, it is crucial to distinguish between desired and required skills. Failure to do so leads to the exclusion of certain candidates who would have been ideal for the position but decided not to apply because they lacked the desired qualification or competence. Ensure to mention the minimum qualification and required skill set for the open role to make your job description effective.

Reviewing Job Descriptions for Legal or Factual Inaccuracies

Once the job description is completed, it is always a good idea to run it by the legal and human resource departments in the company to check for any errors or potential legal issues. The use of incorrect terminology or gender-biased language might be subtle for you, but it can get you into issues for putting things in job descriptions that you shouldn't have.

Forgetting to Optimize Your Job Descriptions for Search Engines  

As per the study, more than 50% of candidates use Google for job searches. They use search terms such as “Project Manager E-commerce”, "Sr. Software Engineer", "Social Media Manager", etc. When writing your job posting, keep in mind that your goal is to write job titles and descriptions that closely match a job seeker’s search query and is well optimized for Google. Do a keyword analysis, incorporate relevant keywords, and add titles and descriptions while keeping an eye on the best SEO practices.

Final Words

Ultimately, writing job descriptions does not have to be complicated. Keep it straightforward and avoid the mentioned common mistakes to position your company as a great workplace and appeal to suitable candidates. The help doesn’t stop there, either. Take assistance from an expert recruitment partner to make your job listings optimized and structured in order to acquire the best talent in the job market and stay ahead of your competitors.

SilverPeople, a venture by Uberlife Consulting Pvt. Ltd., offers complete recruitment solutions for all hiring/headhunting requirements in a Focused, Accurate, and Time-bound manner (Proprietary FAT* Methodology). 

SilverPeople specializes and is placed strongly in 7 Industry verticals: Retail, E-Commerce, Education, Real estate, Fintech, Digital Transformation and Sustainability. SilverPeople has a deep understanding & strong capability to solve Digital Transformation Hiring challenges and is the go-to place for ‘Go Digital’ recruitment consulting!