Attracting the right employees to your company starts with a strong job description. Just as a strong handshake or stellar resume goes a long way to warm a company to a candidate, this listing will act as your first impression to the labour market.

Here are some tips to get your recruitment process off to a flying start.

Getting started

Justin Cerilli, Managing Director of professional development firm Russell Reynolds and Associates, summed up an effective job description in an April 2014 CIO article.

“The best job descriptions combine a little bit of marketing, the reality of the role, the necessary skills and competencies and the organisations’ culture. All those things put together are key to how to present an open role to the market,” he explained.

It is important to make sure a description hits all these points so a candidate knows what the role entails, the skills they will need to succeed and a glimpse of the company culture and benefits of working there.

Using the right language

There’s no doubt that a well-written job description can make a big difference in capturing a candidate’s attention. On the other hand, careless use of language can have a much greater effect beyond the readability of your listing.

According to research from the University of Waterloo in Canada, gendered word usage can unintentionally stop women or men from applying for a role. The study found that in both male and female dominated industries, the language reflected the majority of the workers. For example, male-dominated listings used words like competitive and dominant while female-heavy workplaces used phrases like supportive and interpersonal.

However, the researchers found that using overly-masculine language often gave a poor impression to potential female candidates and discouraged them from applying for the role. Therefore, it is important to use gender-neutral terms and ensure you are not excluding any demographic from reaching out.

Why would a candidate work for you?

In today’s market, employee branding is becoming increasingly important for businesses to master. As part of this, a good section of your job posting should describe the advantages and benefits of working for your company over competitors in the market.

As a report from Universum explained, a strong company brand is vital in attracting the right talent and it is up to the entire company to help craft a unique message and culture.

A job listing is all about selling the role to a candidate. Getting the right staff involved to help shape this will capture attention and get the applications rolling in.