Why are job descriptions getting worse? 

Job searching is usually a nightmare, and looking for gainful employment is usually a exhausting race to run. Stuffed with anxiety-inducing interviews, process assignments, nervously awaited callbacks, and with a disturbing uptick in frequency, many firms are falling over the primary hurdle: the job description.

In our careers we’ve all come throughout at the least one weird job spec that had us scratching our heads, and asking the query “did a human being even write this?”. Sadly, that was a purely hypothetical, however now the market is changing into more and more flooded with AI-penned job ads.

Within the wake of the federal government’s not too long ago introduced AI Motion Plan we’re going to see an more and more synthetic hand within the hiring course of. However is AI solely accountable for sloppy job adverts?

No matter occurred to the well-written job spec?

Sadly, it’s not simply your creativeness; there’s been a slip in high quality management with current job specs. In 2023, analytics agency Revelio Labs found an unnerving development: job specs that use “red-flag” phrases have been growing steadily. There’s been an uptick in job postings that use phrases like “work underneath strain”, which units alarm bells ringing for candidates.

There’s additionally one crucial piece of data that’s been lacking from job adverts with extra frequency, and it’s giving job-hunters a headache: how a lot am I going to be paid? Job adverts that disclose the wage have hit a report low. In line with Adzuna “solely half of UK job adverts embrace a wage”, leaving candidates utterly in the dead of night about how a lot they’ll be taking dwelling every month earlier than even making use of for the position.

Adzuna additionally reveals that “46% of jobseekers received’t attend an interview except they know the wage”, so for those who’re deciding to omit this piece of data (whether or not deliberately, or by error) simply know you may be slicing your expertise pool nearly in half.

To make issues worse, job specs aren’t simply getting worse, they’re changing into outright deceptive. The Impartial reported final week that one in 5 job posts aren’t truly actual. So on high of crimson flags and lacking financial information, job-seekers are having to play their very own miserable twist on Russian Roulette every time they ship off a CV.

That is due to the growing quantity of ‘ghost jobs’, which is definitely spookier than it sounds (who ya gonna name? Effectively, not the businesses, as a result of that’s changing into a lot more durable to do as nicely). Ghost hiring is when firms deliberately listing job adverts with no intention of truly using anybody.

This isn’t simply negatively affecting the candidates although, it’s hurting firms as nicely. A survey, carried out by iHire, prompt that at present solely “48.6% of employers assume their job adverts are efficient”, with employers discovering the trickiest a part of writing a profitable job advert was “understanding what data to incorporate to draw the best hires, guaranteeing the advert successfully “sells” their firm”.

AI: promoting immorality?

So what’s accountable for the diminishing high quality in job adverts? Effectively, the pure inclination is to level the finger in the direction of these two little incendiary letters: AI. Certainly, the world’s primary job website, now even advertises its personal AI-powered job description software for employers to make use of. However is there greater than meets the AI on this one?

We are able to’t utterly blame those that are turning to AI to help with recruitment, as provide is just not assembly demand within the UK job market. The variety of job vacancies has fallen again to pre-pandemic numbers, however UK employers who’re offering graduate coaching schemes have seen a staggering 59% rise in functions since 2023.

The quantity of Gen Z job functions are piling up, the economic system is on the downslide, and corporations are understandably trying to minimize prices as a lot as doable. A giant option to save on funds is by slicing out the middle-man, and as a substitute of utilizing recruitment companies, firms are turning to AI-recruitment instruments to maintain all the pieces in-house and underneath their management.

It’s additionally one thing of a two-way road, as nearly half of all UK job seekers are turning to AI to lie on their job functions. Final yr, Singapore Administration College (SMU) stated it will be casting off private statements in undergraduate admissions because of issues round candidates’ utilizing ChatGPT.

Whereas it seems that all of us have our palms soiled in the case of turning to AI within the job hunt, arguably evidently it’s the shortage of jobs, and rise in functions, that’s inflicting the specs to say no. So can AI truly lend a serving to hand?

Is all of it unhealthy?

AI is on the market, and there’s no placing that genie again within the bottle, particularly within the shadow of the AI Alternatives Motion Plan. There’s little doubt that AI is reworking conventional recruitment, however it’s vital to keep in mind that it’s a software like the rest, and if used responsibly, will be extremely helpful.

There’s truly fairly a couple of sturdy arguments in favour of utilizing AI within the recruitment course of. There’s a debate available that it removes a component of human-bias from the method, and likewise makes issues extra accessible to those that don’t have conventional persona abilities, with ChatGPT changing into particularly crucial for the neurodiverse neighborhood.

It will possibly additionally streamline your hiring course of, and liberate time for you or your employees, making that growing pile of submissions extra manageable. One other massive good thing about utilizing AI to help in recruitment is key phrase optimisation. This helps create goal job adverts so candidates discover related roles a lot sooner. AI isn’t simply used to write down copy both, you need to use it to analyse your language to ensure your spec is as focused and related as it may be, and assist with the tone of your voice.

Writing a job software: the best way to do it proper approach

So perhaps AI isn’t utterly accountable, however that’s nonetheless no excuse for placing a poorly conceived job spec out into the world.

Having a nicely constructed job software is simply as crucial to the employer as it’s to the potential worker, because it means you’ll rent sooner and obtain a better high quality of candidate.

Listed below are our 5 key suggestions for writing a profitable job spec, with or with no little assist from AI.

1. Maintain it brief and candy

Fashionable recruiters advise conserving issues concise and to the purpose. Candidates might be sifting by dozens of job postings day by day, in order that they don’t wish to be studying an essay. It’s a waste of your time and theirs. Maintain it jargon free, and embrace the important data: job title, wage, location (or if it’s hybrid), key duties and position necessities.

2. Maintain your tone constant

You wish to convey your firm’s tradition in your job description. This can enable you to slim down the varieties of personalities you’ll need becoming a member of your small business. Should you’re a enjoyable, energetic startup, you don’t wish to come throughout sounding like an austere, multi-national company (once more, AI will help you out with this).

3. Be particular

Murky, unclear and complicated job specs will solely have your inbox flooded with unsuitable candidates, and should even have you ever lacking out on some rising stars. Be upfront and clear about what it’s you require, whether or not or not it’s exhausting abilities or comfortable abilities. Additionally, attempt to be sensible, for those who’re making an attempt to fill a undertaking supervisor place, there’s no level itemizing ten years expertise in nuclear physics as a “will need to have”.

4. Keep away from crimson flags!

As we talked about, these pesky crimson flags are littering the enjoying subject for the time being. Keep away from them just like the plague, keep away from descriptions like “should deal with stress nicely”, and don’t consult with your employees as being “like a household”. You’ll solely have candidates working for the hills.

5. Lastly…that human contact

Utilizing AI to pen your job specs to save lots of money and time is completely comprehensible, simply get a superb old style Homo sapien to present it the as soon as over earlier than hitting publish. After the robots have labored their magic, simply ask your self “if I used to be searching for a job, would this make sense to me?”.

Curically, be certain that to test on our recruitment course of information for small enterprise house owners. For the following stage within the hiring course of, you’ll be able to seek the advice of our vary of interview guides that can enable you to nail down the greatest inquiries to ask in an interview, and discover out if there are any interview questions that may land you in sizzling water with the regulation.

If you end up on the opposite aspect of the desk, we even have guides that will help you ace your interview, masking all the pieces from the best way to introduce your self in a job interview to what try to be asking on the finish of a job interview. We additionally present guides on the best way to reply the basic interview questions, together with: