- Top 20+ Diversity Equity Inclusion Titles (with Descriptions) 2024 - October 18, 2024
- A List of Common Offensive (Exclusionary) Words Used in Job Descriptions (2024) - October 18, 2024
- Action Verbs for Job Descriptions: A Comprehensive List for 2024 - October 14, 2024
Are your job descriptions consistent? If not, you risk confusing candidates and causing more work for your hiring managers and recruiters. Creating consistent job descriptions across your organization helps maintain clarity, ensure fairness, and improve the hiring process.
Consistent job descriptions can also cut time-to-fill — specifically, the time it takes to get from req to candidate screenings (which can easily take 3+ weeks). For tips on writing job descriptions, check out How to Write a Job Description — Best Practices & Examples.
Here are a few ways to have more consistent job descriptions:
1) Same Order of Sections
When creating consistent job descriptions, your sections should always appear in the same order.
Candidates often look at more than one of your job opps and consistent order helps readability.
You can’t have About Us at the beginning of one JD and then have it be the last section of another.
And you can’t have a diversity section on one job and then not on another. The candidate will question your commitment to diversity. Ouch!
My recommendation: Use one order of sections for all your JDs.
2) Your Boilerplate Sections Should be Fixed
The boilerplate sections of your job descriptions (E.g. About Us, Benefits and EEO/Diversity) should have the same copy.
It hurts your brand to have your company described in one way on one JD yet another way on a second JD.
My recommendation: Use a writer who knows how to write ad copy (e.g. a coypwriter). Have them write the boilerplate sections and get them approved by Legal/Corporate. And then keep those sections fixed!
I hope you have good copywriters internally but if you don’t, check out Ongig’s Job Description Rewriting solution.
Another tip: on both #1 and #2 it helps to use Job Description Management Software (yes, that was just a shameless plug for Ongig!).
3) Have a Single Point of View (1st/2nd or 3rd Person)
There are 2 main choices for what point of view to use in a job description:
- First/Second Person — An example of 1st/2nd person if to say:
We have an exciting chance for you to join us as a java engineer to create our new virtual reality game.
I bolded the first/second person words.
2) 3rd Person — An example of 3rd person is:
Acme Co. is hiring a java engineer for to create a new virtual reality game.
I bolded the 3rd person words.
Your job descriptions need to be First/Second Person OR 3rd Person…but don’t do a mix. It’s inconsistent and sloppy.
My recommendation: Use First Person/Second Person because it’s more conversational. If you use 3rd person than you treat the candidate like an “other” person. No bueno.
4) Length (Word Count)
How long should your job description be?
Ongig’s software analyzes this sort of thing and we see many jobs with 200 or fewer words as JDs with 1,000+ words (at the same employer!). Thus, helping you to create more consistent job descriptions.
There are a few opinions out there on JD word length:
- Allie Hall of Textio says 300 to 700 words
- TheMuse recommends 250 to 1,000 words
- Jennifer Gladstone of UnderCover Recruiter said 500 to 600 words
My recommendation: Use 300 to 650 words. Any less than 300 and you risk the candidate feeling that the job isn’t that important to you (and thus not important to them).
Many candidates lose interest after 650 words so writing longer than that is not worth it.
5) Branding
Many employers customize the branding of the job description pages (e.g.. you have your logo, header/footer, color scheme, etc.).
That’s great.
But not if send your job board traffic to a different job description page generated by your ATS where you have little to no branding.
Without consistent job descriptions, candidates would have different branding experiences with your JDs.
My recommendation: Have only one set of consistent job descriptions that all candidates see. This might mean that you need to tell job boards to scrape job descriptions from somewhere other than your ATS. Ping me if you want me to explain this more.
6. Use a Standard Job Description Template
Templates allow a pre-defined structure to build standard job descriptions.
Using a standardized template ensures that all job descriptions follow the same format, making it easier to understand and compare job openings. It also streamlines JD creation, ensuring consistency in messaging and branding across different roles inside the company.
My recommendation:
Build a standard template for all your job descriptions to ensure uniformity in structure and format. Advise your hiring managers to use this template for each job to maintain consistency across all job postings. Include essential sections like the job titles, job overviews, responsibilities, qualifications, and benefits.
Automate job description templates with Ongig to easily create consistent content across roles.
7. Create a Style Guide
A style guide guides hiring managers and recruiters on language, tone, and formatting so all job descriptions have a consistent voice and style. Without it, your job postings can become cluttered and difficult to understand, potentially leading to missed messages or frustrated candidates. You also risk making your employer brand sound unprofessional.
My recommendation:
Create a style guide that details your job descriptions’ tone, language, and formatting. Ensure consistent terminology use across all job postings. Check with your company’s marketing team so your
Specify whether the tone is informal or formal and the preferred language usage. In your formatting structure, outline when to use bullet points, headlines, and the structure of each section.
8. Use Clear and Inclusive Language
Using clear and inclusive language in your job descriptions makes them easy to understand, so you attract a diverse range of applicants.
My recommendation:
Use simple words and phrases, free of jargon and technical terms that may confuse candidates from underrepresented groups.
Ongig detects gender-biased and racial-biased words in your job postings and suggests more inclusive alternatives.
9. Use a Job Description Software
Job description software can help automate the creation and maintenance of job descriptions. Some software follows legal and industry standards to mitigate legal risks and maintain transparency and fairness in hiring practices.
My recommendation:
Store all position descriptions in JD software, which allows you to create and standardize templates, streamlining the job description writing process. Run your job description to the software’s compliance checks so they meet legal and regulatory requirements:
- Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Compliance – avoid discriminating against candidates based on protected characteristics such as age, gender, race, disability, and religion.
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) – job descriptions must accurately reflect the responsibilities and classification (exempt, non-exempt status)
- Americans with Disabilities (ADA) – job descriptions must not exclude people with disabilities
10. Centralize Job Description Management
Keep your job descriptions in one location so everyone can easily access and update the same version, decreasing discrepancies.
My recommendation:
Store all JDs in a centralized repository to facilitate creating and updating. Implement version control to track changes and ensure everyone reads and uses the most recent version.
Ongig offers a centralized cloud-based job library, saving time when creating new postings and streamlining your job description workflow.
11. Standardize Qualification Requirements
Standardized job requirements help eliminate bias in the hiring process. When qualifications are clearly defined and consistently applied, all applicants are evaluated based on the same criteria. This reduces the chances of personal preferences or irrelevant factors influencing hiring decisions.
Standardizing qualifications clarifies to potential candidates what skills and experience are essential for the job. It also ensures consistency in what applicants expect for similar roles, helping make fair comparisons.
My recommendation:
Use consistent criteria for qualifications, including education, experience, and skills. List essential and preferred or ‘nice-to-have’ qualifications to avoid confusion and attract more qualified candidates.
12. Define Responsibilities Clearly
A well-defined job description outlines the roles’ actual duties, specific tasks, and projects to avoid misunderstandings and mismatched expectations later on.
Clarifying job responsibilities also helps job seekers understand what the job requires so they can accurately assess their fit for the job. Those with the necessary experience to handle the job duties will be more likely to apply, leading to a better applicant pool.
My recommendation:
To support your consistent job descriptions, list the essential functions of the job. Arrange key responsibilities in order of importance so it is clear which tasks are the most crucial for the role. Usually, the top five responsibilities are the most important and are considered top priority, so list them first.
13. Train Hiring Manager
Educating hiring managers on creating and maintaining effective and consistent job descriptions ensures they understand and follow the established guidelines.
My recommendation
Train your hiring managers on creating and maintaining consistent job descriptions. Share best practices and examples of well-written job descriptions. Give them access to the job description repository software so they can access the latest version of job posts and edit it whenever needed.
14. Involve Key Stakeholders
Stakeholders have different perspectives on the role. Involving them helps capture the full scope of duties, skills, and experience required. It also makes the job descriptions more likely to attract individuals with the right skills and qualifications, leading to a better job fit and reduced employee turnover.
My recommendation
Involve stakeholders such as hiring managers, subject matter experts, department heads, and HR personnel in creating and reviewing job descriptions. Create an approval process so all job descriptions are vetted and approved before posting.
15. Regularly Review Job Descriptions and Update as Needed
Even consistent job descriptions can change over time due to emerging technologies, industry trends, or new business processes. As a company grows or restructures, departmental priorities and workflows can suddenly shift, and employment laws and regulations can also change.
Regular reviews ensure that job descriptions remain accurate, relevant, and aligned with company goals and objectives.
My recommendation
Schedule annual reviews to ensure job descriptions remain current and relevant. Collect feedback from managers and current employees to identify areas for improvement. Conduct job analysis to verify that descriptions accurately reflect the role’s duties, responsibilities, and qualifications. Benchmark your job postings to industry standards and competitors to ensure competitiveness. Set automation on your recruitment software to remind, track, and update job descriptions.
Consistent Job Descriptions: How to Test and Analyze JD Effectiveness
Creating clear job descriptions is a good idea. But it’s equally important to test and analyze them for effectiveness. This helps in attracting the right candidates and ensuring your job postings align with your company’s goals. So, here’s how to do it.
Gathering Feedback for effective and consistent job descriptions
Start by gathering feedback from current employees. They can offer insights into whether the position descriptions match the actual duties performed. So, this is an important part of the job description format and helps ensure you have a complete job description that reflects reality. This step can help identify any inaccurate job descriptions.
Analyzing Recruitment Metrics for effective and consistent job descriptions
Next, look at your recruitment metrics. Track how many job seekers view your job postings and how many apply. This can reveal if your job ad is reaching potential candidates. If you notice a high view rate but a low application rate, it might mean the job descriptions are not appealing or clear enough. Therefore, this is a crucial step in search engine optimization for job ads.
Candidate Feedback for effective and consistent job descriptions
Once you hire a new employee, ask for their feedback on the job description during the onboarding process. This can highlight any discrepancies between the job posting and the actual job duties. Such feedback helps refine the job requirements and ensure future job seekers have clear expectations.
Performance Reviews for effective and consistent job descriptions
During performance reviews, compare an employee’s performance to the job description. So, this can show if the job roles and key responsibilities listed are accurate. If there are discrepancies, it may be time to update the job descriptions to better align with the essential job functions and the actual duties performed.
Key Performance Indicators for effective and consistent job descriptions
Track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to recruitment. KPIs like time-to-fill, quality of hire, and turnover rates can provide insights into the effectiveness of your job descriptions. A high turnover rate might indicate that the job postings are not attracting the right candidates or that the job descriptions are not setting clear expectations.
Regular Updates and Reviews
You must also regularly update and review job descriptions. Jobs evolve, and so should the descriptions. So, schedule periodic reviews, perhaps aligned with performance evaluations, to ensure they remain accurate and reflective of the role. This is especially important to align with the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thus, ensuring that job postings include reasonable accommodations and reflect the physical demands of the job.
Using Tools and Surveys
Use tools like salary surveys and job evaluations to ensure your job descriptions offer appropriate compensation and reflect industry standards. Surveys can also provide insights into what similar jobs in the industry entail and the necessary qualifications. So, this helps ensure you’re competitive and attracting top talent.
Job Analysis
Conduct a thorough job analysis for each role. So, think about detailing specific tasks, key duties, and essential functions of the position. Understanding these elements helps you craft well-written job descriptions that clearly outline what is expected from prospective candidates.
For more consistent job descriptions, you might also want to check out The 6 Key Steps for Job Description Management Software) article. It covers things like having a Job Description Library, Consistent Templates, A Searchable/Centralized Database of JDs and more!).
I’m super-excited about job description consistency lately because it’s a key problem Ongig solves with our new Job Description Management Software. Ongig’s JD Management App lets you easily find and create job descriptions and speed up your workflow.
And your job descriptions will be consistent every time! Request a demo to learn more.
