How you write, structure, brand, and market your job descriptions helps you attract the right candidates.
This is where choosing the best job description software comes in. These tools make writing, editing, organizing, and approving job descriptions easier.
This article will guide you in choosing the best job description management software solution for your organization. We’ll discuss the important features to consider such as collaborative editing, content library, and job description automation.
And other factors to look for like ease of use, cost, and integration with different applicant tracking systems(ATS).
Let’s get started.
What is job description management software?
Simply put, job description management software helps businesses of all sizes write, manage, and store job descriptions. And it improves your hiring process.
Image Source: Christin Hume on Unsplash
These tools create a place for stakeholders, and hiring managers to work together on writing job descriptions. So this ensures consistency and a simplified workflow approval process.
Typically the best job description software should have features like:
- A Job description library
- Automation of creating job descriptions
- Text analysis for improving job descriptions
- Custom job description templates
- Collaborative writing, editing, and revision of job descriptions
- ATS integration
This way you create JDs that boost application rates, enhance candidate quality, and help you achieve your diverse goals.
Why do you need a job description management tool?
The old approach to writing job descriptions was through a manual paper-based process. This process is tedious and prone to error.
Hiring managers would write job descriptions from scratch, relying on their knowledge of the role they’re hiring for. This process makes it easy for them to miss out on including important job description details.
Plus, any revisions or updates require reworking the entire document.
And any feedback and collaboration from different stakeholders is time-consuming since copies of the job descriptions must be circulated and reviewed.
While the traditional approach has served companies well before, times have changed, and with that many companies need an automated solution to writing job descriptions.
So here are the benefits of using a job description management software:
- Breaking down silos: In the past, companies used to store job descriptions in Word Documents, individual and shared hard drives. So this led to a decentralized and siloed process. Job description management software removes that manual process by providing a secure cloud-based web application where your job descriptions are in one place (and often connects with your applicant tracking system).
- Building better workflows: Job description software takes JD collaboration online. This enables real-time sharing with everyone writing the job descriptions.
- Attracting qualified candidates: Job description tools enable you to write inclusive job ads. This way, it’s easy to attract qualified candidates from different backgrounds.
- Gaining a competitive advantage: Improving the job description writing and review process means organizations publish job descriptions faster, and they are more consistent. So this ensures they gain a competitive advantage for the talent they want to attract.
And as companies grow, job description software helps them with the changing needs as they write more job descriptions. Even when there is a need to publish 1000’s of job postings a day.
6 Things to Look for in the Best Job Description Management Software
So here are 6 things to look for in a job description management software:
1. An Automated Job Description Builder
Writing job descriptions using the traditional methods of Word Documents is tedious and prone to error. And the chances of missing out on including important information is high.
Job descriptions need to be accurate, consistent, and detailed.
Effective JDs are free from boring industry jargon. They use gender-neutral, and racially inclusive language. And they should describe the company culture, job responsibilities, and the applicant’s qualifications.
This is where an external job description management tool is helpful to standardize the language, tone, and formatting of your job descriptions. Here’s what these tools can do for you:
- Step-by-step creating process: The job description tools use AI automation to guide you through the entire JD writing and updating process.
- Pre-populated content: Job description management software leverages content libraries, and pre-existing templates to auto-populate certain JDs fields or sections. So this ensures consistency across the job descriptions in your organization.
- Intelligent suggestions: Job description software uses technology to offer ideas to boost the effectiveness of your job descriptions. The tools can suggest the appropriate job title, good job title length, and sections to include to improve the job description.
- Job description library: Instead of having your job descriptions in Google Docs or a shared drive, job description software gives you a single space for storing and crafting job descriptions. This removes endless scrolling on Google Docs or searching on old shared drives. And you can share the JD links with anyone on the hiring team.
Ongig’s Text Analyzer does all of these things. And it helps you take out biased and dull job descriptions on a large scale. Plus it offers more inclusive and plain language options for making edits.
2. Bias and Ineffective Language Detector
Any type of bias can ruin a great job description.
Even minor unintentional biases can deter candidates from applying. Imagine this: because of some job description biases, almost 40% of candidates might not even try to apply for the job.
So the words used in your job descriptions should make the right impression on potential candidates regardless of their background, race, gender, and sexual orientation.
The job description management tool you select should help you find and replace different biases such as:
- Gender-coded words: competitive, strong, principles, leader, and objectives terms might deter female candidates from applying to your job ads.
- Racial bias: native English speaker, blacklist, a cakewalk, brown bag, and spirit animal might keep candidates from Indigenous, Black, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities from applying.
- Age bias: the elderly, digital native, and recent graduates terms might prevent older candidates from applying to your open positions.
- Education/Elitism bias: Elitism bias presents itself in job descriptions that require candidates to have attended certain big schools, asking for too many certificates, and too many years of experience.
A job description tool reviews your JDs and flags all types of biases you might miss by writing the job description manually.
3. Job Description Approval Workflows
Creating a job description manually makes the approval process long.
This is because before you post a job description, it has to pass through different people for approval to the next step.
For instance, the hiring manager might start the process of submitting a job description. The HR lead might start creating the job description. And someone else, maybe the department lead will approve the job description posting through the application tracking system.
So the writing, submission, and approval process needs “user controls” so that each job description is initiated, written, edited/modified, and approved on time.
This is where job description management software comes in. It lets everyone get involved by defining clear approval steps. The best job description management software gives you robust user control features that:
- Define Role-Based Access Control
The software makes it easy for everyone to have specific permissions. So the job description process gets executed on time. For instance, hiring managers might have access to create and edit drafts. HR heads might manage style guides and templates. And the department lead might have final authority.
- User Management
With Text Analyzer, you can set an “Administrator” control to manage the user accounts. This way, everyone gets to do only their tasks and not mess up with other people’s job postings.
And new users are added to the system without problems. For instance, let’s say you need input from an employee working in a similar role you’re hiring for in your company. With user administrator control, they can get involved in the process and edit specific parts of the job description based on their experience.
This collaboration workflow process ensures job descriptions get published on time.
4. Version Control and Tracking
Version control enables you to track and review any version of a job description. That way, you can “undo” any unwanted changes. And return to the version you want.
Here are more benefits you might enjoy from a version control feature:
- Version comparisons
Ongig’s software allows you to view the differences between two versions of a JD. This is important when approving changes made by different users. This ensures all modifications get reviewed well. So this reduces back-and-forth inconsistencies.
- Rollback capabilities
In case of unintended changes and errors, version control enables you to go back to a previous version of a job description. So this ensures you restore the correct version with no challenges.
- Audit trails
With version control, you get a comprehensive audit trail. You’re able to see every single change in a JD, including the time, date, user, and the specific change.
An audit trail is important for compliance issues, especially during legal proceedings, or in regulated industries.
- Enhanced accountability and transparency
By visualizing the whole creation of a job description, stakeholders can understand the reasons behind specific edits. And they can track the complete process of the draft.
So whether you’re a large corporation or a small business, revisions, and version control features in your job description software ensure you have full control over creating your JDs.
5. Creating Readable and Consistent Job Descriptions
Some of the reasons why you might be searching for the best job description software is because your JDs are:
- Too long
- Full of jargon and use technical language
- Have lengthy rules that might put off potential candidates
- Poor formatting and inconsistent
Modern candidates expect easy-to-read JDs that contain all the important sections of a job description such as salary, location, job requirements, etc.
And the more readable your job descriptions are, the higher the application rates. The best job descriptions are between 300 to 650 words. And read around the 8th-grade level.
So here’s how a job description management tool can improve the readability of your job descriptions:
- Finding unnecessary words in your job descriptions
Many job descriptions have unnecessary words. Some examples are excessive adverbs and “complex words”. For instance, “in order to” is a complex word that an efficient job description software will suggest you delete.
- Suggesting the correct length of your job descriptions
JDs often use longer sentences that arent needed. A good tool will suggest you use shorter sentences because they are easier to read.
Plus, depending on the tool, you’ll see the average reading grade level of your job descriptions. Most applicants prefer reading at a low-grade level (around 8th grade). This also helps with potential talent who are dyslexic.
6. Integration with Applicant Tracking Systems
Easy integration with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an important feature of any job description management software. After all, when your new job description gets approved internally, you will want to post it to your ATS.
Here’s how this integration can help your hiring team and improve the recruitment process:
- One-click publishing: By integrating the two systems, you save time and effort you would have used to input information manually. This way, your job postings are consistent across different platforms.
- Enhanced candidate management: The integration allows for improved candidate management. So, when candidates apply through your ATS, their information is captured and organized. Making it easy for you to track their progress through the recruitment process.
- Up-to-date reporting and analytics: By combining the two systems, you get timely data to help you improve your job descriptions and the candidate journey. This way, you can track the efficiency of your job descriptions by analyzing metrics such as the source of hire, application rates, and time-to-hire data within your ATS.
There are more costs associated with ATS integration depending on the job description software you choose. The efficiency it brings to your recruitment process makes it a worthwhile investment.
4 Things to Consider When Choosing the Best Job Description Software
After learning about the important features to consider in any job description management software, it’s important to consider more general factors like:
1. Ease of use
When choosing the best job description management tool, consider the user interface. How easy is it to use? User-friendly tools will help users create, edit, manage, and approve job descriptions without technical problems. This way, you won’t spend months training your team on how to use the tool.
2. Customization and Flexibility
Look for a job description tool with customizable options to suit your organization’s needs as you grow. This will ensure you don’t start looking for another tool once you start writing and editing large volumes of job descriptions.
3. Customer Support
Consider the support the provider offers. Look for a vendor that provides helpful and timely assistance. This can include responsive customer support, user guides, and tutorials.
4. Pricing
Consider the cost of the job description management software. The price should be within your organization’s budget. And still, provide a good value by evaluating the benefits and features it offers with its cost.
WHY I WROTE THIS:
Using the best job description management software to write JDs is crucial to top talent. And the overall goal is to make your job description journey easy too.
Ongig is a top tool in the job description market. Our mission is to make your recruitment journey easier by helping you write the best job descriptions, fast. Book a demo today to learn how we can take your JDs to the next level.
SHOUT-OUTS:
- Global Job Description Management Software Market By Type (Cloud Based, Web Based), By Application (Large Enterprises, SMEs), By Geographic Scope And Forecast by (Verified Market Reports)
- Best Job Description Management Software by (G2)
- The Buyer’s Guide to Job Description Software (2021 Edition) by (HRSG)
- Best Job Description Software by (SourceForge)
