When advertising a new opening in your company writing a job description that summarises the position and attracts the right candidate can be difficult. We’ve put together a list of 7 tips to help you when putting together your next job description.

1. Be clear – Make sure you state the job title, working hours, job location, job benefits and contract duration clearly so there is no confusion later down the line.

2. Don’t be afraid to add detail – Explain what the roles core functions are and the expectations of the successful candidate.

3. Don’t discriminate – Be mindful of discriminating against protected characteristic such as age, disability, race, sex, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

4. Include experience and qualifications required – avoid saying phrases such as “needs 10+ years’ experience” instead say “needs proven experience in…”. Also clarify the level of experience and qualifications required by categorising them by desirable and essential.

5. Provide the application methods and requirements – clearly state if you require a CV, cover letter, application form, portfolio, online test etc

6. Include key dates – If you already know when the applications will close, when the interviews will be and when you need the successful candidate to start make sure to include it.

7. Don’t feel like you have to respond to everyone – Ideally it would be great to respond to everyone who replies but sometimes if you have a lot of applicants it isn’t possible. At the end of the job description state that if you are receiving a lot of applicants you may not be able to response to everyone, so if you haven’t heard back within XX weeks then you have been unsuccessful.