How to Effectively Write a Job Description


With a fiercely competitive job market, creating a job description for an open position within the Information Technology industry is critical. Without an accurate job description to recruit various positions, many human resource professionals, who are not familiar with software jargon, certifications, or coding languages may find it difficult to discern quality candidates from those who don’t qualify for the position at all.

The Purpose of a Job Description

The ultimate goal of any job description is to bring together the strategic duties of the job with a person who exemplifies the necessary skill set and experience. The job description serves many purposes, including:

  • Attracting qualified talent
  • Weeding out individuals who do not meet the qualifications for the job
  • Establishing a reference for compensation and performance measures based on the company’s objectives
  • Introducing potential candidates to your company’s brand

Ineffective job descriptions are those that highlight the minimum acceptable qualifications for the job, which, results in recruiting mediocre talent when the company needs the extraordinary.

How to Write an Effective Job Description

Much like solving any technical problem, the process of writing an effective job description must be broken down in phases: Summary, Qualifications, and Duties/Responsibilities. When you effectively identify the summary of the job, highlighting the necessary qualifications is the logical next step, followed by identifying the duties and responsibilities the candidate should expect once they are a part of your team.

Your job summary should summarize the position that is open. It should be comprehensive, yet succinct. Most employers use one to two paragraphs to provide potential candidates with a high-level view of what the job entails. This portion of the job description is most often what potential candidates see in job postings, so effectively describing the job is essential.

The Qualifications section exists to eliminate candidates who do not qualify for the job; therefore, it is critical for you to list degrees, certifications, and the experience necessary, which will result in an interview. Often, human resource personnel put the minimum qualifications in a job description, but that results in subpar talent. In order to attract, recruit, and hire a winning team, the job description should correspond with the knowledge, skills and abilities successful candidates possess who currently function in the job.

The Duties/Responsibilities section of your job description is the most important component of the description. Often, job candidates see a job title they like, click on it, and read the duties and responsibilities first. What you identify as the duties of the job, help job seekers determine whether the position is something they are willing to do each day. Your job description should include both rudimentary and complex tasks in order to provide readers with an adequate view of what the job entails.

Writing a job description for individuals working within the Information Technology industry must be deliberate and driven by an organization’s objectives. It is not enough to haphazardly piece together similar job descriptions to create a new one for a new position. Your job description must be strategic and focus on attracting the right talent for the position.


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