Five Essential Elements of a Job Posting

By: Bianca Strickland

Let me guess, you have a position that you need filled yesterday?

Your first instinct is probably to start recruiting. But what exactly are you recruiting for? What does this candidate need to have to be successful in this role? A clear, transparent, and most importantly, well-branded job description is the first step to attracting top talent.

Consider these five essential elements when you are creating your job description:

Start by advertising the culture of the organization. Present the mission statement, values, and other cultural components that will keep top talent interested. Show the candidate community why they want to work for your organization instead of your competitor’s.

Clearly identify the title, location, department, classification, and hours of the position. This will prevent any miscommunication about their pay type, who they report to, who reports to them, the conditions of their work environment, and their schedule.

Summarize the job objective. Define the purpose of the position and general responsibilities of the role. Identify the relationship they will have with customers, coworkers, and vendors.

Outline the responsibilities. Be transparent about the expectations of the job they will be performing, including the results they are responsible for driving. This will allow you to create interview questions that are specific to these tasks. You can ask for examples of how they have done these tasks in the past and specifics on the responsibilities being asked of them. This gives the candidate a clear idea of their qualification requirements and will help you eliminate anyone that may be unqualified.

List out the KSA’s needed to be successful in this role. What are the minimum knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the tasks and responsibilities of the position? Include physical requirements, education levels and experience needed of the job as well. This will help you quickly decide who is eligible for an interview and who isn’t.

Starting with a solid job description, will increase your chances of having a productive and satisfied team member that will add value to your team.