OVERVIEW: As a company, you build trust and rapport by having a conversational tone and sound like a real person. If you read your job description out loud – is that what you would say to someone over a coffee? If your job description feels just like you are talking with someone in-person then you know its a winner. Things you can do to add personality include adding your company’s culture/values, links to your website and videos to increase engagement.
WHY IT MATTERS:
1) Sound like a human – Most job descriptions sound either like someone is yelling from a rooftop to a crowd or a boring HR/legal document. Instead when you sound like you would in-person – it builds trust and makes a stronger personal connection.
2) Culture matters – You have a unique company culture and not everyone is a fit. Companies often hire for competency but fire for culture fit. Proactively include your company culture/values and include this early in the interview process to reduce turnover surprises.
3) Increase engagement – You spent money and time to make a great company website, so take advantage of this and link to it in the description. If you don’t tell someone where to look, you expect them to figure it out on their own.
4) Be memorable – 83% of information viewed by video is easily recalled vs. only 10% of text. Marketing and sales understand the power of video and likely already using this. Did you know a majority of the consumer internet traffic is expected to be video by 2022? Wow. Have company videos showing off your company, team and key jobs to stand out.
WHAT TO INCLUDE:
Conversational tone – Does your job description sound like you would be talking to someone in-person? Read it out loud as a test. Make it sound authentic and real.
Ideal candidate persona – Does your description target some motivation or drive behind why someone might be looking to make a change. For example, “Tired of large company endless meetings and politics and looking for a smaller company where you can make an impact?”
Culture/values listed – Do you include them in your company overview. Ideally, you have this page on your website you can link to for further information and photos. Are you OK that not everyone is a fit for your company?
Hyperlinks – Include 3-5 links to your company website. Include hyperlinks to Product/Service overview, Portfolio/Case Studies, Culture, CEO story, or News/Awards.
Company videos – Engage and draw people in more with your unique personality, culture and vision. Leverage the power of video you already use in marketing and sales. Showing a realistic job preview of the location, team and role in a video will inspire as well as pre-screen others who realize it is not a fit.
Good job – You completed component #3: AUTHENTIC
NEXT STEP: #4: TITLE & OVERVIEW (click to view)
PRIOR STEP: #2: DIFFERENT (click to view)
