Job descriptions are still the main way your hiring team can entice talent to apply for a role at your company. But are job descriptions marketing documents as well? Actually, they’re often the first and only piece of messaging that job seekers read about your company. Which means they are, by default, marketing pieces. They’re just directed at job seekers rather than customers.
Every piece of messaging your company puts out into the public sector is part of your branding and marketing efforts. Web pages, videos, online ads, press releases, emails, sales scripts, and much more are all marketing pieces. Along with job descriptions.
Unless your company is a household name, job seekers may have to come across your marketing pieces to be familiar with your company. Maybe they see an ad online, for example. But if they don’t see an ad, they may not know who you are.
In that case, your job description is the first and possibly only piece of branding job seekers see. In addition to publicizing a role, your job post is also introducing your company, potentially to both candidates and consumers alike.
Introduce your company the same way marketing does
If your job descriptions are introducing your company to the public at large, the rules that apply to branding pieces also apply to job descriptions.
Branding guidelines ensure that companies present a consistent design and voice across all marketing efforts. So anytime a potential customer sees or reads something from your company, regardless of the designer or writer, they have the same experience.
The picture that job descriptions present has to be the same picture your company’s branding and marketing efforts present. Design, tone, the language you use─it all has to align with the branding guidelines your marketing team has developed.
Not familiar with your company’s branding guidelines? It’s no surprise if you’re not. While some recruiting teams are coordinating with marketing teams, they are the exception, not the rule. If you haven’t coordinated with your marketing team on standard content like the About Us and Perks sections of your job descriptions, think about reaching out. The steps you take and job description software or other platform you use when writing job posts have a big impact on how well they perform.
Job descriptions can both correctly and incorrectly signal to candidates the type of company they’d be joining. Creating consistency and tone of voice across job descriptions can leave candidates with the impression that your team is organized and putting in the effort to find good people. Poorly written ones can signal the opposite.
Job descriptions: marketing documents for job seekers
Job descriptions are marketing documents directed specifically at job seekers. To accurately convey your brand, they have to present your company in the same light as your marketing pieces. Otherwise, job seekers may come away with an impression of your company that isn’t accurate and isn’t what your hiring team intended.
