Benefits of using AI for job descriptions
Using AI to write your job descriptions can offer several advantages. For example, it can help you introduce speed and consistency into your hiring workflow. It can also help you:
- Save time. The most immediate benefit of using AI is speed. It can produce a draft of a job description in seconds. This speed can help reduce the time your team spends on writing and let them focus on other hiring tasks, such as interviewing.
- Improve consistency. When different managers write their own job descriptions, the tone and format can vary. Using AI with a set process can help create more consistent posts.
- Overcome writer’s block. Staring at a blank page can be a challenge. AI is a great tool for generating ideas when you don’t know where to start. It can give you a solid foundation with common responsibilities and skills for a role.
- Enhance job post visibility. AI can help you write job descriptions that include relevant keywords for the role and industry. Well-placed keywords can make your job posting more visible on job boards. Greater visibility can lead to a larger applicant pool.
You can also use Indeed’s AI Job Description Generator, which combines the benefits of OpenAI’s GPT with Indeed’s own proprietary AI to help you quickly draft job descriptions in seconds. Indeed’s AI is powered by data on millions of job descriptions and hiring signals spanning several years of data collection.
Indeed Talent Scout can also be a useful tool for improving your job titles and job descriptions. It’s an intelligent, conversational agent that integrates with select ATSs and across Indeed’s products. To improve your job descriptions, you can try asking Talent Scout questions like:
- How can I improve this job description?
- What are the top keywords to use for this role?
- How is this job performing?
- Why are my applications so low?
How to prepare information before you write
The quality of the job description you get from an AI tool depends on the information you give it. Better input creates a better output. Before writing a prompt, take a few minutes to gather some key details.
If you’re ready to write or optimize job descriptions with ChatGPT or Talent Scout, consider these steps to help ensure your postings effectively communicate the requirements and responsibilities of the job:
Perform a quick job analysis
While you don’t need a long, formal job analysis process, it’s essential to understand the role. Talk to the hiring manager and other team members who’ll work with the new hire. A short conversation can provide the raw material you need to write an accurate description.
Ask your hiring team simple but powerful questions, such as:
- What are the four most important daily tasks for this job?
- What does success look like in this position after one year?
- What’s the biggest challenge a new person will face?
- What are the essential tools or software for this role?
List your essential and preferred skills
Create a simple list of what you’re looking for. You might divide your list into “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves.”
Must-haves are the non-negotiable skills and experiences a person needs to do the job. Nice-to-haves are the skills that would be helpful but aren’t required.
Having this list ready will make it much easier to write a specific and effective prompt. It also helps you focus on what truly matters for the role.
Find your company’s tone of voice
Think about your company culture. Is your company’s communication style formal or casual? Is it energetic or serious? Write down a few words that describe your company’s voice. Examples might include friendly, professional, collaborative or supportive. You can include these words in your prompt to ensure the job description matches your company’s unique style.
A step-by-step guide to writing effective prompts
A prompt is the instruction you give an AI tool, such as ChatGPT. A detailed prompt will give you a better and more relevant job description. The following steps will help you build an effective prompt.
Step one: Start with a clear role and context
Start by telling the AI what you want it to do and for what role. Be clear and specific. Add context about your company’s industry to get more tailored results.
- Example prompt: “Write a job description for a Project Manager position at a growing software company.”
Step two: Add key responsibilities and duties
Next, add the main duties you identified during your job analysis. A simple bulleted list works perfectly for this part of the prompt.
- Example prompt: “Write a job description for a Project Manager position. The key responsibilities include planning project timelines, coordinating with different teams, communicating with clients and reporting on project status to leaders.”
Step three: Include skills and qualifications
Add your list of must-have requirements. Be specific about the years of experience, educational background and any tools or software skills needed.
- Example prompt: “Write a job description for a Project Manager position. The essential qualifications are familiarity with customer relationship management (CRM) software, great communication skills and experience with kanban tools such as Asana or Jira.”
Step four: Specify the desired tone and format
Add keywords to describe your company’s voice and help the AI write in a style that fits your brand and attracts the right kind of candidates. You can also tell the AI exactly how to structure the job description.
- Example prompt: “Write a job description for a project manager position. Write it in a warm, friendly, clear and professional tone. Please use the following template: position summary, responsibilities and qualifications.”
A complete prompt example
When you combine all these elements, you get a detailed prompt that can produce a high-quality draft.
- Complete prompt example: “Act as an expert recruiter. Write a job description for a Project Manager at a fast-growing tech company. The tone should be warm, friendly, clear and professional. The key responsibilities include planning project timelines, coordinating with engineering and design teams, communicating with clients and reporting on project status. Essential qualifications include project management and leadership skills or similar work experience and proficiency with Asana. Please structure the output with a position summary, a list of responsibilities and a list of qualifications.”
Advanced prompting techniques for better results
Once you understand basic prompt structure, you can use more advanced techniques to get better results from the AI. These methods can help you refine the output, add creativity and make the job description truly stand out.
Use negative instructions
A negative instruction tells the AI what you don’t want it to include. You can use it to avoid corporate jargon or clichés that can make a job description feel generic and uninspired.
- Example prompt: “Write a job description for a sales associate. Don’t use clichés, such as ‘rockstar’ or ‘ninja.’ Avoid corporate jargon, such as ‘synergy’ or ‘blue-sky thinking.'”
Refine with follow-up prompts
Chain prompting means having a multistep conversation with the AI. You can ask it to build the job description piece by piece, which gives you more control over the final product:
- First prompt: “Generate a list of five key responsibilities for a graphic designer role.”
- Second prompt: “Turn those responsibilities into a single paragraph for a job description.”
- Third prompt: “Write a list of essential skills for a candidate who’d be successful with those responsibilities.”
Request information in a table
You can ask the AI to organize information in a table, which may be helpful before you write the final description.
- Example prompt: “Create a table that compares the essential requirements for a Junior Accountant and a Senior Accountant, including years of experience, skills and required certifications.”
How to review and edit the AI-generated draft
The text that ChatGPT gives you is a first draft, not a final product. Always review and edit the output carefully. Human oversight is the most important part of using AI responsibly in your hiring process.
Check for factual accuracy
Read through the description to ensure all the information is correct. AI can sometimes invent responsibilities or add skills that aren’t relevant to your role. Remove anything that doesn’t accurately reflect the job at your company. Ensure details such as the reporting structure are correct.
Personalize with your company culture
AI tools can’t know the unique aspects of your company or team. Add details that give candidates a real sense of the job. Mention a specific project the new hire might work on, describe the team they’ll be joining or talk about a unique company benefit.
Refine for inclusive and clear language
AI can sometimes use clichés or biased phrases. Review the text to ensure it’s welcoming to all applicants. Remove any complex language that might be confusing to candidates. Indeed’s guide on how to write more inclusive job descriptions can help.
Add a human touch
Encourage candidates to apply by adding a warm, human touch to your closing statement. You can also add details about your company’s mission and values. The goal is to connect with the reader on a human level. This guide has more tips on creating a positive candidate experience.
Common mistakes to avoid when using AI
Using AI can make your work easier, but there are a few common pitfalls to watch out for:
- Accepting the first draft without edits: The most common mistake is treating the AI’s output as a finished product. Always think of it as a starting point. Your knowledge of the role and your company is essential for turning a generic draft into a great job description.
- Using prompts that are too vague: A vague prompt will give you a vague result. A prompt such as “write a job description for a salesperson” isn’t usually enough. Provide context to get a useful and relevant draft.
- Forgetting to add company-specific details. Forgetting to add details about your specific projects, team environment and culture is a missed opportunity. Personalization is what can help make a job post stand out.
- Relying on it for highly complex or sensitive roles. Be careful when using AI for highly specialized, senior-level or executive roles. These positions often have complex responsibilities and require a nuanced understanding that an AI may not capture.
Job Description Template
When writing your job description with ChatGPT, you might use a similar template to guide your prompt. For example, you can explain the position details in a paragraph and request ChatGPT to format it accordingly.
Job title: [Insert job title] Department: [Insert department] Reports to: [Insert manager’s title] Location: [e.g., Los Angeles, California, hybrid or remote]
Job summary: [Write one or two clear sentences that give an overview of the role and its main purpose within the company.]
Key responsibilities:
- [List four to six primary duties of the role, starting each with an action verb]
- [Example: Manage social media channels, including Instagram and LinkedIn]
- [Example: Develop and schedule weekly content calendars]
- [Example: Report on key performance metrics each month]
- [Example: Collaborate with the design team to create visual assets]
Work environment: [Describe the work setting, team dynamics and pace of work. Example: You’ll join a collaborative team of five in a fast-paced office environment.]
About our company: [Write a short, engaging paragraph about your company’s culture, mission, values and what makes it a great place to work.]
Overall, ChatGPT and Talent Scout are powerful tools that can help streamline the job description-writing process while improving quality and effectiveness. However, it’s essential to remember that it’s not a replacement for human expertise and judgment. With the right approach, ChatGPT may become a valuable part of your recruitment process and take some of the labor out of generating quality job descriptions.
