The age-old conundrum of having to wade through the “noise” is something that increasingly affects hiring managers and HR professionals.

With the ever-growing work force and propagation of job listing options, hiring professionals face challenges like never before. In order to find the right candidates for the right positions, without having to spend countless hours reading through irrelevant resumes, creating a solid job description is a crucial step.

In a recent ebook, Mediabistro put together an easy-to-use guide for writing a job description that will help
those responsible for hiring find the most relevant applicants possible.

As part of their research, Mediabistro identified 6 crucial steps to creating job listings that will attract the right talent, while lessening the annoyance of being inundated with irrelevant resumes. 

Step 1: Job Title

Grab candidates’ interest—and get plenty of quality applications— by giving your open job the right name.

Job title is the very first thing a candidate sees when your job listing pops up, and it’s so much more than a title. It’s a headline, a billboard and a vital marketing tool that goes a long way towards attracting qualified candidates. Without a solid title, your job posting might as well be invisible.

There are 5 things you can do to improve your job titles:

1. Be Clear
2. Be Relevant
3. Don't Overload
4. Be Relevant
5. Be Honest

Remember: Think like a marketer. 

Step 2: Company Description

The one thing your job listing is probably getting wrong.

99% of company descriptions fail to do one important thing: Sell your company to the candidate. This section is a chance for you to sell someone not just on the job itself, but on the workplace culture and environment that they’re going to experience every day. And you should do it in two to three sentences, max—an overly wordy description will lose their attention.

Always remember: Don't describe your company - sell your company. 

Step 3: Job Responsibilities  

There are three characteristics of a job responsibility section that should be followed:

1. The intended result or outcome
2. A description of the task
3. An active verb

Step 4: Required Skills/Qualifications

The required skills section is where you take the responsibilities for the job.

In this section, it is important to clearly state, in bullet point form, the skills, experiences, and qualifications required.

These could include: Familiarity with specific software/ computer programs (eg. Excel, Word, Power Point) Licenses or specialized certificates Ability to perform certain functions Years of experience in a relevant field Comfort within certain environments (eg. Fast-paced atmosphere)

1. Familiarity with specific software/ computer programs (eg. Excel, Word, Power Point)
2. Licenses or specialized certificates
3. Ability to perform certain functions
4. Years of experience in a relevant field
5. Comfort within certain environments (eg. Fast-paced atmosphere)

Step 5: Mobile Friendliness

1. Keep job titles short
2. Delete extraneous text
3. Break up paragraphs 
4. Watch out for bullets, numbered lists, symbols
5. Use a listings site that offers clean mobile design
6. Make sure candidates can take action in the moment
7. Do quality control from your phone