By | Barbara Fielder
In the job market, vacancy descriptions are very common. If you’re looking for a job, or maybe you are an employee in the HR department, then you are more likely than not to come across various vacancy descriptions. However, have you thought about what it takes to write a proper vacancy description? If you’re a job seeker, probably not. However, if you’re an HR employee and new to the job, this is something you should consider important. Whatever the case might be, you’re in luck because, in this article, we take an in-depth look at tips to follow when writing a proper vacancy description. But first, let us establish what a vacancy description is.
What Is A Vacancy Description?
A vacancy description, otherwise known as a job description, is simply text that explains the ideal candidate’s key responsibilities, qualifications, and skills for a particular job. In addition, it should include essential facts and information regarding the company and role, such as salary, benefits, and work culture. Finally, a well-written vacancy description should allow potential candidates to judge their qualifications for a position by simply reading it. So, if you’ll be writing one soon, you might want to consider the 5 tips we’ll be going over in the next section of this article.
5 Tips For Writing A Good Vacancy Description
The best vacancy description saves both candidates’ and employers’ time. Unqualified candidates can focus on other job openings, thus improving the pool of top candidates for a company. Depending on the recruitment schedule, this could help companies focus on what they need in the ideal candidate. So if it’s your responsibility to write a vacancy description, you might want to consider these 5 tips:
- Ensure job title accuracy
- Have a brief and engaging overview
- Describe how responsibilities coincide with business growth
- Consult current employees for feedback
- Add a level of urgency
1. Ensure job title accuracy
This might seem obvious, but it’s a mistake that can easily happen. Before putting out ads, you need to understand the job position. This will allow you to pick the right job title. For example, if your company needs a professional who can leverage neural networks to extract data, you are not looking for a data analyst. Instead, you should look for a data engineer.
You might think the two are very similar positions, and while that’s true to a certain degree, a data engineer can do the job of a data analyst, but not vice versa. If you advertise a vacancy for a data analyst, the candidates that apply may not be the right fit for the position. So, always get the job title right from the beginning.
2. Have a brief and engaging overview
You don’t want your vacancy description to sound boring because the most skilled candidates might probably skip it. The first two lines are where most people decide if a job position is for them or not, so you want to make the most of this. Within the boundaries of professionalism, you want to write an engaging overview that gives the reader a good idea of what the job entails. If your writing skills aren’t the best, you can use I Hate Writing – an online writing service with affordable and talented writers to work on your vacancy description. However, you also need to keep things brief.
3. Describe how responsibilities coincide with business growth
Suppose you want your vacancy description to have the most impact on candidates. In that case, you might consider including information such as how the job position would contribute to the candidate’s personal growth and that of the company. For instance, if you’re advertising a vacancy for a data engineer, you could include something that goes like this in your description: “ as a data engineer for ABC company, you would be responsible for managing the digitization of the company’s records to match industry standards, thereby improving the speed and accuracy of data retrieval in the ABC.” A description like this will let candidates know they will be gaining experience working on a project critical to the company and common in the industry, which will improve their employability.
4. Consult current employees for feedback
If you’re looking for the most accurate description of a job’s responsibilities, you’ll get that from current employees working in that exact position or similar department. You can use your interactions with them to understand what to include in the vacancy description. From their experience, they would be able to help you identify the right skills to include. Another reason why this is important is that the candidate that gets the job would have to work with the current team, so you want to make sure you’re getting someone that fits the culture and requirements. This is an excellent way to make your job description more understandable and to the point. Additionally, this will ensure that your pool of candidates will be perfectly skilled to take on the position you are trying to fill.
5. Add a level of urgency
Lastly, even though there might not be an urgent need for a particular vacancy to be filled, you still want candidates to take it seriously. So, convey a sense of urgency when writing your vacancy description. For example, it could include an actual date, or you can let readers know that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The benefit of this approach is that you’re more likely to fill the position quickly, and candidates would be encouraged to put in their best efforts to stand out. That said, it’s important to create a scene of urgency without causing stress to a potential employee because most job seekers will not be enticed by a vacancy that makes them feel this way.
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/m0oSTE_MjsI
In Conclusion
Writing a proper vacancy description is not something you learn to do overnight, but with dedication and willingness to learn, you won’t find it difficult. The tips shared in this article are aimed to help anyone, including beginners, to improve their vacancy description writing. So, feel free to take the tips from this article and apply them when writing your next job description.
Author Bio:
Barbara Fielder is a senior recruiter with years of experience working for start-ups. As it’s her job to find the best people for a position, she has had to work on her skills, one being able to compose a good vacancy description. Barbara enjoys writing articles like this because she knows there’s an audience for it, and this is what she loves doing.
