To grab the attention of the best candidates, your organization needs to have strong, like bees to honey, job descriptions.
Because an effective job description is a big part of what attracts the right candidates to your business. How? By providing them with what they want to know — clearly and succinctly — and painting a picture of the day-to-day experience in the role and your organization.
If you think your job description templates and ads could use some TLC, take a look at these creative job description examples to set you on the right track.
TL;DR – Key Takeaways
- How do you write a good job description? Let candidates know what you expect from them, such as their skills and responsibilities, and what they’ll receive in return, such as the salary range and other benefits.
- What do they want to know before applying? They’ll look for info on your company culture, work flexibility, and leadership, for instance.
- Reviewing great job description examples can help you craft more compelling posts that are short and simple and speak to candidates directly to boost their chances of applying.
- Once you’ve got qualified candidates hooked, assess their true skills and capabilities with Toggl Hire’s role-specific skills tests. And quickly pick out the best-fit candidates for the role.
How to write a great job description
When you have an open role to advertise, you’ll need to create a job description and share it with potential candidates via a job posting. The job description typically outlines what skills, experience, and qualifications you’re looking for, the duties the successful candidate will be responsible for, and other core components like the role’s salary and benefits.
A great job description grabs the attention of qualified candidates to the degree that matches what the applicant is looking for. To increase your hit rate, aim for clear, scannable job descriptions that share a basic understanding of what candidates want to know. For instance, including the salary today for most roles is a must.
| Good: | Better: | Great: |
| Brief summary of the role | A clear and concise overview of the role | Clear and concise overview of the role |
| Lists most responsibilities | Lists all the main responsibilities | Includes information about the company and their mission |
| Includes the required qualifications | Includes required as well as desired experience and qualifications | Details all the main responsibilities, as well as travel and office requirements |
| Some information about the salary and benefits package | Includes required as well as desired experience and qualifications | |
| Includes relevant links to social media, careers page, and careers help | ||
| Includes diversity and inclusivity statement | ||
| A detailed summary of the role | ||
| Information on how to apply and the application process |
When you publish an effective job description, your message should connect with more candidates that are a good match. Plus, a more targeted job description could also help streamline your recruitment funnel as there are less unqualified applicants entering the funnel.
A well-crafted job description opens the door for a successful hiring process. Once you’ve piqued candidates’ interest with your job ad, showcase your company culture with an attractive careers page and screen candidates with a quick and effective application form.
Source
What do candidates really want to know before applying?
Your job description needs to get to the point if you want to make a connection with applicants. And while candidates search for different things in a role, there are a few common elements most want to know before they apply for a job, such as key responsibilities and working options.
They’ll search for info to support their job choices, such as:
- Competitive salary: Does your business actually offer a competitive salary, or are you just saying that in your job posting? In a 2022 Gallup survey, 64% of respondents said income or benefits is very important to them.
- Company culture and values: Do your company’s values and culture match theirs? And does your company live its culture, or is it just a list of values printed on an office poster?
- Career growth and development opportunities: They want to know they’ll be able to grow their knowledge and skills in a new position. Per Forbes, 46% of Millennials and 42% of Gen X rate growth opportunities as the second most important element of their work.
- Diversity: Candidates may be looking for diversity in the form of gender, age, or ethnicity, for instance. And per Gallup’s survey, diversity ranks high in importance at 42%.
- Flexibility: Offering flexible work options such as remote and hybrid working is essential today. In fact, 70 % of workers want flexible remote work options.
- Purpose: What role does your company play in society? Does your purpose come across clearly? Or is it just talk and no real action?
- Good leadership: Candidates often search review sites like Glassdoor for CEO reviews. They want to know whether your company has ethical leadership.
- Mental health support: The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that “an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity”. With that in mind, it’s clear why candidates want to know your company cares about their mental wellbeing.
💡 Learn more about the importance of mental health at work in this WHO fact sheet.
Common mistakes to avoid
Part of writing a great job description is knowing what not to do — so you don’t lose good candidates before they even apply. Here are a few common mistakes your company should try to avoid when you craft your next job description.
- Not disclosing the salary for the role
- Creating a super long job description with no bullet points
- Being vague on the job’s responsibilities
- Being too rigid in your job requirements section with the required skills, experience, or qualifications
- Not checking or correcting any spelling or grammatical errors
Luckily, the best way to learn how to write a killer job description is through examples. And that’s what we explore next.
15 examples of great (and some not-so-great) job descriptions
These impactful job description examples should help you get an idea about what communicates well to candidates. And how to put together a good job description that hooks the right candidates for your organization.
1. Keep it simple
Go easy on the jargon, buzzwords, and meaningless words too. In other words, keep ’em out of your job titles and descriptions. If the language is straightforward, you’ll avoid causing candidates confusion or frustration. Ideally, do a check over your copy for these kinds of words and remove them.
2. Keep it short
No essays or novels, please.
Nobody is going to read ALL that text. If you’re not using bullet points and writing very long descriptions instead, candidates will lose interest and close your job post. They’re probably browsing through stacks of other job boards and ads, so make sure yours is scannable!
Here’s a short and sweet job administrative assistant post that covers all the core info.
3. Get straight to the point
Don’t bury the lead — grab their attention in the first few sentences. That way, you can stop the ‘scroll’ and engage them so they read to the end of your job description and hopefully click Apply.
Here’s a great example by Canva for an experiential marketing manager position that grabs your attention from the get-go.
4. Speak to your candidates directly
Communicate in a direct and conversational way by using the word ‘you’ instead of ‘the preferred candidate’, for instance. That way, you make the job description feel more personal and the candidate feel more valued.
Take a look at this great example of using ‘you’ by DeepMind for an assistant to the VP of product management job posting.
5. Share “internal” info about teams and projects
In other words, give candidates insight into the bigger picture. For instance, detail the goals of the team they’ll be joining and their current projects. For a technical role in particular, this could peak the interest of the right candidate and increase their likelihood of applying.
Take a look at this Full-Stack Developer, Communications & Design ad for OpenAI and how it shares important details about the team and their goals.
6. Share your purpose and company mission
Many of today’s job seekers are looking for a job with a purpose. And companies that communicate their vision, mission, or purpose in a clear, inspirational way in their job description connect with candidates’ aspirations. As a result, they will likely be around for a longer stint than those just in it for the paycheck.
Here’s a good example by Mastercard for a senior analyst position that shares their inspirational purpose.
7. Provide clear expectations
If you let applicants know exactly what’ll be expected from them in the job requirements section of your job posting, you’ll avoid misaligned expectations. And reduce the number of ‘chance takers’ hopefully, too! You could include specifics on the required education level, preferred qualifications, work experience, or any necessary accreditations.
In this example, a job description of a growth product manager job at Tesla, they lay out the expectations clearly right at the beginning of the job posting.
8. A user-friendly layout
Avoid chasing prospective applicants away with a job description layout, structure, or format that is not user-friendly. They shouldn’t have to scroll through endless text, struggle to find the Apply button, or get lost in various embedded pages.
For this one, we’ll start off with an example of how not to do it with this Salesforce senior project lead job posting.
Now, here’s one on the other end of the scale that has a great UX layout, is scannable, and has clear ways to find out more and apply. (Oh yes… it’s a Toggl post, naturally! 😉)
9. Tech-enabled convenience
Similar to ensuring a user-friendly experience for applicants, using the latest technology to simplify the application process can also help your job post conversions! Innovative companies include career chatbots, for instance, to collect basic applicant data and answer simple questions about roles, and direct applicants to the next steps.
Take a look at this Mastercard ad for a customer success manager with their Career Bot ready to assist.
10. Touch on company culture
Great job descriptions will definitely give prospective employees a taste of the company culture. The more they understand what makes the company ‘tick’, the more likely you’ll get a better fit for your organization.
Check out this Zapier senior product designer job description, where they demonstrate their caring culture in the ad copy. Love it!
11. A glimpse into their day-to-day duties
Companies that paint a picture of the actual day-to-day duties of a role, help applicants make a more informed choice on whether the job is a good match for them.
Take a look at how Nike explains the nitty-gritty of the job for this executive assistant role.
12. Salary and benefits
It’s important to spell out the salary and benefits for candidates. No matter the job title or level of seniority, candidates will always want to know ‘what’s in it for them’ when they learn more about a role and your business.
Sharing the benefits in a conversational way, as Roblox has with this Lead QA Engineer role, could help people already feel part of the team.
13. Stand out from the crowd
With people scanning through multiple job posts in a few minutes, you need a way for your job posting to stand out. If not, it’ll surely get lost in the ‘scroll’.
Take a look at this receptionist job description posted by Hilton. They include their latest workplace awards at the top of the page. A real eye-catcher that immediately elevates their reputation as a desirable place to work.
14. Respect local traditions and culture
Showing your company respects the local culture and traditions can also help you stand out as a good option for job seekers. Communicating these company values may also open up the recruiting funnel to more diverse and inclusive talent.
Take a look at Canva’s visual designer internship post based in Australia.
15. Include a call to action
And the final touch — the essential Call to action or Apply button! It needs to be clearly visible, people. If you’re going to send someone hunting for that button, you’re gonna lose them and possibly even harm your brand with the frustrating UX.
Take a look at Spotify’s clear ‘Apply now’ button that remains visible the whole time you read through the job description.
Bonus tip
While the above detailed job description examples show that these companies are thinking about candidates, here is an example that takes a candidate-centric approach to a new level.
The Canva careers page, in general, operates exactly like their product does. In other words, they’re living their product right from the start of their hiring process! A creative recruitment approach for a creative product = a brilliant way to stand out!
* You’ll have to play around with their careers page yourself, as an image doesn’t do it justice!
Got ’em hooked? Now uncover the best with a skills test
A killer job description will help your role and company stand out in the sea of job opportunities. By thinking creatively and sharing what candidates want to know, you can stop the scroll.
And once you’ve attracted the right talent, you’re ready for the next stage — selecting the cream of the crop.
Using an automated skills assessment platform will help you save time in the hiring process and establish who’s really got the skills required to succeed in the role.
Try Toggl Hire’s role-based skills tests today! Your free account awaits. 😊
Juste loves investigating through writing. A copywriter by trade, she spent the last ten years in startups, telling stories and building marketing teams. She works at Toggl Hire and writes about how businesses can recruit really great people.
