A job description is your opportunity to attract and entice the best candidates and should reflect the opportunities that are inherent in the role you are seeking to fill. To this end, your engineering job description should be detailed in terms of what the day-to-day duties involve, where the job sits in the overall structure of the company (illustrating the potential for career advancement) and highlight the benefits of working for your organisation.
In short, the more attractive and appealing the job description, the better the calibre of engineering candidates you are going to find applying for the role.
We have compiled a short checklist to help you make sure you have all the key ingredients needed to write a killer engineering job description.
Job title
The job title indicates both the scope and nature of the role and its position within the overall hierarchy. This is incredibly important when seeking ambitious candidates who will want to perform at their best and advance in their career progression. Avoid woolly, fluffy titles that have no real meaning. There’s a reason why there is a hierarchy within an organisation’s structure – it gives focus and intent and an overall sense of control and discipline. Use it.
Location
Chances are the role will involve the candidate’s presence at different sites. With hybrid working patterns becoming the norm, the ideal candidate no longer has to be within commuting distance of the main HQ. Despite this, access to the prime locations plus the ability to work remotely or flexibly may be a real consideration.
Reporting to…
In the same way that the job title gives a clear indication of what the role entails, knowing who the successful candidate is going to report to establishes the position of the role in the overall company hierarchy, and clarifies responsibility levels.
Company information
Why should the candidate want to work for your organisation? This is your chance to take a step back and really understand why it is that you are proud to work for the company. Are there any special projects or product developments that are shaking up the industry? Are there some real innovations going on? Is the candidate going to be able to stretch themselves intellectually and creatively?
What does the company do to incentivise employees? Does it offer some key tangible benefits? Is there scope for career advancement?
The more attractive your company sounds as a place to work, the more likely you will get quality engineering candidates applying for the position.
Overview of the role
As opposed to the day-to-day activities description of the role, an overview will give the potential candidate more of an idea of what impact their work will have on the organisation or project as a whole. This gives the candidate n sense of purpose and value.
Key tasks and responsibilities
A detailed breakdown of key duties and responsibilities will demonstrate to the candidate what they will be doing on a day-to-day basis.
Qualifications and experience
Both qualifications and experience are equally important, and the candidate should be able to demonstrate them in equal measure. However, don’t seek perfection in this area – because it might lose you the perfect candidate. While a basic level of competency is obviously crucial, pair it up with a number of more personal attributes that demonstrate an open mindset, a willingness to learn, good communication skills, and overall strategic thinking that are qualities that cannot be learnt in the lecture hall.
If you require help writing the perfect job description upload your vacancy details, and we can work on it together.
