The best candidates are searching for a great place to work in addition to a job that is a good fit for their skills when looking at job descriptions. They want to impact your organization, grow personally, and connect in a meaningful way with their colleagues. To find these candidates, you must focus on employer brand in your job descriptions. Communicating your employer brand to candidates within the job description can help your candidates answer these questions:

• Who will I be working with on a daily basis? Are they like me?
• What are the behavioral expectations of this company’s employees?
• Where do I fit into the company culture? Is it a good match for me?
• How do management and leadership teams communicate with employees?

By answering these questions, you are allowing the candidate to qualify or disqualify themselves from the hiring process, thus making your talent pool increase in quality, and diminishing the risk of a bad hire.

With this in mind, how do you write a job description that underscores employer brand? Follow the tips below to get started.

STEP 1: Decide WHO You’re Targeting for the Position

It might seem cheesy, but close your eyes and imagine the ideal candidate. Are they introverted or extroverted? Urban or rural? Experienced or green? What role are you posting for - Accountant, Marketer, Customer Service, Craftsman, or something else? Start to build, in your mind, the person you would most like to hire for the position. Keep this person in your mind when you’re writing your job description.

Why This Matters:

When you know who you’re talking to, you can fit the language of the job description to match your target candidate persona. You can also describe the parts of your company culture that will matter most to this ideal candidate, underscoring your employer brand and encouraging those that are the right fit to apply.

STEP 2: Customize Your Company Summary

Often companies use boilerplate text in the company summary portion of a job description. The summary consists of a history of the company, and the mission statement. At best, the company summary is boring. If your job descriptions fall into this category, consider spending a little more time customizing the company summary to emphasize your employer brand rather than historical facts. Then, tailor the summary to the type of candidate you would like to capture for the position.

If you’re worried about time, try creating 3 - 5 versions of your company summary that can work depending on the candidate. When you’re ready to build your job description, you can simply copy and paste the company summary that makes the most sense.

Why This Matters:

Knowing your candidate, and communicating your employer brand to their highest priorities will encourage the candidate to go through the application process. For example, an introverted bookkeeper might be less interested in the plethora of company events and parties that occur on a quarterly basis at your company, and more interested in the quality of the relationships built within their own team. Both items are qualities of your employer brand but speak to different candidate needs.

STEP 3: Eliminate Using Long Lists

Today’s job market is competitive. The best way to capture high-quality candidates is to relate to them and help them understand what it is like to work at your company. Having a long list of duties and qualifications does not help you become relatable, and does nothing to communicate your employer. Instead of writing a laundry list, write in prose. Provide context, personality, purpose, and the overall impact the candidate would have on the company if they were to take the position.

Why This Matters:

If your goal is to communicate your employer brand, lists do not give you enough freedom to do this.  Lists remove your ability to use the “voice” of your company. The voice in your job descriptions is how a candidate is able to relate to what you’re offering and decide whether or not they would be a good fit.

STEP 4: Edit with the Candidate in Mind, Not Recruiters

When you read through your completed job description, does it make you want to apply for the position? Does it get you excited to work at your company? Have you sold yourself on why your company is a great place to work? If the answer to these questions is “no”, then you need to edit your work. Think creatively when you edit, and pump up the personality in your descriptions. Think of the job seeker, not the recruiter or hiring manager when editing to keep your messaging consistent and motivating. If a list of activities, responsibilities, and qualifications is needed for the recruiter or hiring manager, send them an internal note separately with this information.

Why This Matters:

The way to encourage applications from job seekers who can make a real difference in your organization is to ensure it is written for them. When you edit your job description, you can check for this and make changes where necessary.

After reading this list, how can you change your process to write job descriptions that motivate qualified candidates to apply to work at your company? Let us know in the comments or on social media!