This article provides guidelines on how to write and structure your job description. It also covers the main job boards' quality requirements. 

The benefits of a good job description

Writing a good job description has the following benefits:

• It improves the quality of your job and prevents your posting from being blocked on different job boards.
• Your job appears more relevant and is listed higher in candidates' search results.
• It increases the response rate and attracts quality candidates.
• Your recruiting team can focus on more pertinent applications and spend less time screening CVs.
• It can lead to a better return on investment, especially if you are promoting your jobs.

The ideal structure and content of a good job description

Your job description should be divided into five sections:

1. Job title and location
2. Key responsibilities 
3. Qualifications
4. Company information
5. Employee benefits

Tip:
You can edit, add to, and choose the order of your job description fields in Settings > Recruiting > Job descriptions. You can read more in our article Configuring Job Description Fields.

Your job needs to communicate all relevant and factual details in a professional way. Your postings should inspire trust and confidence in candidates. We recommend avoiding any terms or phrases that may seem spam-like and double-checking for typos, grammatical errors, and inappropriate language.

1. Title and location
   

   The title and the location of your job are the first pieces of information candidates see. They also determine how quickly your job is found in the search results. Candidates look for widely used and trusted terms when conducting a search on job boards. You must use the appropriate keywords in your title and description. 

   ▶︎ You can specify the type of role and provide additional relevant information. For example, “Senior Front-End Developer” explicitly states the required experience and qualifications for this role.

   ▶︎ Most job boards require the job type to be clearly stated in the title (full-time, part-time, contract, and so on). This also sets expectations for the jobseekers and prevents irrelevant applications, for example, interns applying to a full-time job.

   ▶︎ You need to use the correct language and avoid internal jargon (for example, "ninjas", "rock stars", and so on), offensive slang, capitalization, and emojis. Your job title should be the same as how it appears on a business card. 

   ▶︎ You need to enter the complete and exact address of your workplace (in Settings > Organization > Workplaces) so job boards can display your job in the correct location. 

   Note:
   We recommend avoiding information that can be detailed in the job description, such as internal reference numbers, block capitals, abbreviations, and so on.

2. Key responsibilities
   

   In this section, you include a detailed description of the role's main tasks.

   ▶︎ You can introduce the team, its mission, and how it benefits the company.

   ▶︎ You can use bullet points to list the key responsibilities.

   ▶︎ You need to be concise but detailed about what the role involves on a day-to-day basis. The candidate needs to understand exactly what the job is about.

   Tip:
   In Personio, while editing your posting description, you can add your key responsibilities in the field Your mission. 
   
   

3. Qualifications
   

   In the third part of your job description, you describe the requirements for the role, such as the skills, the experience, and the qualifications.

   ▶︎ You can use bullet points to list the different requirements.

   ▶︎ You need to be specific about the profile you are looking for and clearly state if you accept beginners, for example. 

   Tip:
   In Personio, you can fill in the qualifications in the field Your Profile while editing your posting description.

    

4. Company information

   Your company culture refers to your purpose and ethics. It is important that your job description reflects them in your job posting. This ensures that you attract candidates who share the same personal values and make a good culture fit.

   ▶︎ You can start with a short presentation of what your company does, the industry, and the products and services you offer.

   ▶︎ You can then describe the work environment and the atmosphere of your workplaces.

   ▶︎ You need to talk about what makes your company unique and special. This differentiates your company from competitors.

   ▶︎ You can also explain your organization's approaches around inclusivity and flexibility.

   ▶︎ Show how fun your company is so candidates can picture themselves being part of the team. 

   Tip:
   In Personio, you can write a description of your company and what you do in the About Us section in Settings > Recruiting > Career Page.

    

5. Employee benefits

   While looking for the perfect fit for your job, you should keep in mind that candidates aim to find a company that has a positive impact on their wellbeing.

   ▶︎ You can list the different benefits you offer. For example, how many days of PTO (Paid Time Off) are offered per year, and whether you offer health insurance or stock options. If you can't offer additional benefits, it is important to highlight how attractive your company is when describing your company culture. You can also talk about what makes your current employees happy. 

   ▶︎ We recommend listing the salary offered for the job, as this is becoming a requirement for many job boards. Qualified candidates are also more likely to apply when a salary range is shown in the job description. If displaying a salary is too sensitive, you can put a salary bracket for the job.

   ▶︎ You can mention if you offer flexible hours and remote work. This shows candidates that your company values work-life balance.

   ▶︎ You can talk about the location of your workplaces and what makes them attractive.

   ▶︎ If your company offers career development benefits, you can promote these in your job description. This shows that you support your employees to learn and grow. Many candidates will also want to know what opportunities there are to evolve in the organization.

   Tip:
   In Personio, you can display these pieces of information in the Why us? section within your job description.

Quality requirements from job boards

All job boards have quality standards. Job boards check that every job shows an authentic and good-quality opportunity for jobseekers. 

Note:
If these requirements aren't met, the job boards won't publish the posting. If the posting is already published, it's taken offline until the changes are made. 

While writing your job description, keep in mind the local work legislation but also the job board's specific requirements. Read more about our best practices on legal requirements for recruiting.

• Discrimination: Your job needs to be available to qualified candidates regardless of any protected characteristics. You can't, for example, ask for a “native speaker”, "young man", or “a female assistant”. 
• Gender neutrality: We recommend being as neutral as possible and also adding a third gender for more inclusion.

  Tip:
  In your job title, in addition to “M” and “F”, you can include another letter for the third gender in your posting to ensure all genders are addressed (for example, M/F/X or M/F/D).

• Candidate privacy: Avoid asking for personal information (such as photos or ID information) upfront in the application. You also need to keep candidates' data private and shouldn't share data with a third party. 
• Transparency: We recommend being authentic and accurate about the job you promote. Don't reuse content from other companies' job postings.

You can find the main job boards' quality requirements below:

Tip:
You can read our articles on Multiposting jobs on External Job Boards and Mandatory Steps for Multiposting on Job Boards for more information.