This article will give you guidelines on how to structure your job description and describe the position you are publishing, while respecting the main job boards' quality requirements.
The benefits of a good job description
A good structure and detailed content regarding your position will have an impact on several aspects:
- It will improve the quality of your position and prevent your posting from being blocked on the different job boards.
- Your position will be more relevant and listed higher in candidates' search results.
- It will increase the response rate and attract quality candidates.
- Your recruiting team will focus on more pertinent applications and spend less time screening CVs.
- It will lead to a better return on investment, especially if you are promoting your positions.
The ideal structure and content of a good job description
Your job description should be divided into five sections:
- Job title and location
- Key responsibilities
- Qualifications
- Company information
- 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 positions must communicate all relevant and factual details in a professional way. Your postings should inspire trust and confidence in applicants. We recommend avoiding any terms or phrases that may seem spam-like and double-checking for typos, grammatical errors, and inappropriate language.
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Title and location
The title and the location of your position are the first pieces of information candidates see. They also determine how quickly your position 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 position.
▶︎ You must 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 would appear on a business card.
▶︎ You must enter the complete and exact address of your office (in Settings > Organization > Offices) so job boards can display your position 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.
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Key responsibilities
In this section, you will 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 must be concise but detailed about what the role involves on a day-to-day basis. The candidate must be able to understand exactly what the position is about.
Tip
In Personio, while editing your posting description, you can add your key responsibilities in the field Your mission. -
Qualifications
In the third part of your job description, you will 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 must be specific on 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. -
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 will ensure that you attract candidates who share the same personal values and will 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 offices.
▶︎ You must 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. -
Employee benefits
While looking for the perfect fit for your position, you should keep in mind that candidates aim to find a company that has a positive impact on their well-being.
▶︎ 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 cannot 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 position 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 position.
▶︎ 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 offices 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 portals have quality standards and every position is checked in order to display real and good quality opportunities to jobseekers.
Note
If these requirements are not met, the job boards will not publish the posting. In case the posting has been published already, it will be taken offline until the changes are made.
While writing your job description, you must keep in mind the local work legislation but also the job board's specific requirements.
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Discrimination: your position must be available to qualified candidates, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and religion. You cannot, for example, ask for a “native speaker”, "young man" or “a female assistant”.
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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: You must avoid asking for personal information (such as photos or ID information) upfront in the application. You must also keep candidates' data private and should not share data with a third party.
- Transparency: We encourage you to be truthful and accurate about the position you promote. You must not reuse content from other companies' job postings.
You will find the main job boards' quality requirements below:
- Images, videos, and links are not supported in the job posting.
- You must not repost the same position multiple times and in multiple locations, as duplicated positions will not be shown.
- Talent pool positions and roles that are always open ("evergreen" roles) are not allowed.
- Your position should be paid fairly. The candidate should not pay to apply, interview, or begin to work in your company.
- If you offer an internship or unpaid work experience, it has to be clearly stated in the job description and the type of contract should appear in the job title.
- You should refrain from using hashtags or adding too many keywords.
- You must state if the position is offered by the hiring company or by a recruiter on the company’s behalf.
- Career fairs, franchises, training opportunities, and multi-level marketing positions are not allowed on Indeed.
You can refer to Indeed Guidelines for more information.
- The job type and contract have to be clear. If you are offering internships, volunteering, or unpaid opportunities it must be clearly stated.
- The primary location for the role must be plainly visible within the job description.
- The requirement and conditions of relocation and travel should be indicated in the post.
- You may hire multiple candidates for the same role, but you must not use one job posting for multiple roles. For example, you may say you are “Looking for two Sales Executives” but cannot say “Looking for two Sales Executives and a Marketing Manager”.
You can refer to LinkedIn Quality Job Post Guidelines for more information.
- You must post only in German or English. You must choose one language throughout the job posting and avoid a mixture of several languages.
- The job title must be written in lowercase, except for the first letter.
- Links to other job offers, external content, or online application forms are not allowed in the job description.
- You can add links to your company’s career page, an email address, a phone number, and a data protection declaration.
- Video integration is possible (YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia) to provide further information about your company or the position. Only videos that add value for jobseekers are allowed.
You can refer to StepStone Quality Standards and our article Posting a Position on StepStone for more information.
- The General Equality Act (AGG) must be respected. Any form of discrimination is considered as a violation of AGG and will result in your job posting being removed from Bundesagentur für Arbeit. You cannot use terms such as "young team" or "native language" for example.
- Duplicated postings are not allowed. If 90 percent of the content is identical to an already published job posting, it will be blocked.
- Your company imprint must be filled in completely and correctly. If it is missing or filled out wrongly, the posting and your account will be blocked.
- You must refrain from using any kind of swear words and insults, even if meant humorously.
- You must not use the term Unsolicited application as this is not permitted on Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
Tip
You can read our articles on Multiposting Positions on External Job Boards and Mandatory Steps for Multiposting on Job Boards for more information.