How to Write a Skills-based Job Description

A skills-based job description focuses on skills rather than responsibilities, and it’s a powerful tool that helps identify candidates with the best relevant skills, regardless of degree status or on-paper background. By focusing on skill sets, this type of job description leads to more targeted and successful hiring outcomes. Here’s why skills-based job descriptions help you attract highly qualified candidates, and how to effectively write them.

Understanding Skills-based Job Descriptions

A skills-based job description shifts the focus from listing duties to highlighting the specific skills required for success in a role. This approach acknowledges that skills acquired through experience, education, and training are often transferable across different industries and contexts. Skills-based job descriptions provide a comprehensive view of what a candidate needs to bring to the table, and that creates a more effective hiring process. It becomes less important whether you have a certain degree or a specific job title on your resume, and more important that you’ve demonstrated the skills needed for the position.

Skills-based job descriptions offer several key advantages:

1. Enhanced Clarity and Precision: Traditional job descriptions can be vague and overloaded with duties. Skills-based descriptions are clear, concise, and directly tie relevant skills to the role’s requirements, reducing ambiguity for both candidates and hiring managers.
2. Better Candidate Matching: By focusing on skills, companies can identify candidates whose skill sets align with the job’s demands. This leads to more accurate candidate matching and increases the likelihood of finding the right fit for the organization.
3. Improved Diversity and Inclusion: Skills-based job descriptions prioritize what candidates bring to the table, regardless of their background. This supports diversity and inclusion efforts by promoting equal opportunities for individuals with various experiences and pathways.

Benefits of Recruiting with Skills-based Descriptions

Here are some of the reasons it pays to go skills-based:

1. Efficient Candidate Evaluation: Hiring managers can quickly assess candidates based on their skills, making the evaluation process more efficient. This is particularly valuable when dealing with a high volume of applications. (And you can pair it with AI-based recruitment tools!)
2. Transparency and Realistic Expectations: Candidates gain a clear understanding of what’s expected of them in terms of skills, allowing them to assess their fit for the role more accurately before they apply.
3. Increased Candidate Engagement: A skills-based approach highlights the value of each candidate’s unique skill set, encouraging more qualified individuals to apply and engage with the organization’s opportunities. This may be particularly true for candidates who are highly skilled but may have followed a non-traditional career path or took time away from work.

Tips for Creating an Impactful Skills-based Job Description

To create an effective skills-based job description, keep these things in mind:

1. Identify Critical Skills: Determine the essential skills required for success in the role. Consider, and list, both technical skills and soft skills that contribute to a candidate’s effectiveness in the position.
2. Use Clear Language: Craft the job description using clear, straightforward language. Avoid company jargon or overly technical terms that might confuse potential candidates.
3. Prioritize Skills: Place the skills section prominently at the beginning of the job description. Clearly state the skills required and differentiate between mandatory and preferred skills.
4. Quantify Experience: Whenever possible, quantify the level of experience needed for each skill. Should they be experts, or is beginner-level skill sufficient? This provides candidates with a realistic sense of what’s expected.
5. Highlight Impact: Describe how the skills will be used to achieve goals and contribute to the organization’s success. Highlight the impact the role will have within the company. This connects the candidate to their potential contribution.

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Skills-based job descriptions are a powerful tool for attracting talent. Workforce Solutions can help you create skills-based job postings. We’re here to help you succeed! To get assistance with writing job postings, contact our Business Consultants at 713.688.6890 or email jobs@wrksolutions.com.