How to Craft the Perfect Job Description to Attract Ideal Hospitality Candidates

Take a moment to put yourself in the position of someone looking for a job at a restaurant or hotel. Aside from the position title listed in the job posting, the first thing you see is the description of the job. Let’s take a look at this all-important “first impression”, detailing how a compelling job description can make the difference between attracting difference-makers and ineffective workers with a high likelihood of turnover.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Job Description

If you haven’t written a job description in years or at all, don’t fret. Crafting a comprehensive, accurate, and impactful job description requires a bit of creativity and time. Bypass the computer screen in favor of pen and paper. Brainstorm some words that describe the open position and company, creating a word bank to draw upon when writing the description.  

Pull words from the word bank when writing the job description and you’ll maximize search visibility. Recognize the job ad is an opportunity to connect with those searching for keywords related to your industry as well as open jobs and sprinkle those often-searched words throughout the ad. 

The available post’s job summary lists the job title along with a description of the job’s duties. However, it is unnecessary to list every single responsibility of the post in the job summary. Focus on the most important responsibilities and the tasks that are most frequent.

Next, transition to the position’s benefits and perks. Highlight health insurance (if offered), retirement planning (if offered), paid time off, and additional benefits. The perks section presents the opportunity to highlight your company’s culture including its unique merits such as flexible scheduling, opportunities for promotion, etc.

Transition to the open position’s responsibilities, describing what the individual in the role does on a daily basis. Be direct when addressing the position’s duties as vague language has the potential to confuse candidates or even turn them away from the opportunity.

List the position’s qualifications and requirements, be it years of experience, certifications, or training. Equivalent qualifications will expand the reach of the search all the more. As an example, if the candidate does not have experience working in the advertised position, they may have spent years working in a similar service role. Such analogous work experience indicates the candidate is comfortable working in a customer-facing position.

The final component of the job description is the company blurb and equal employment opportunity statement. The blurb is an opportunity to frame the company as desirable to work for. Even if you’ve already highlighted the merits of your business and work culture earlier in the listing, the company blurb presents an additional opportunity to reinforce those words. Detail the company’s values and touch on employment awards in this section.

The equal employment opportunity statement communicates the company’s willingness to consider people of all backgrounds for open roles. When in doubt, err on the side of overcommunicating your company’s commitment to considering applicants of all races, sexes, religions, and other demographics. Note that depending on the jurisdiction in which you operate, this is often also a legal requirement.

Stressing your business’s tolerance for people from all walks of life plays a significant part in determining whether racial minorities and other underrepresented groups apply for open positions. According to the Harvard Business Review, women are especially likely to self-select out of the candidate pool if they do not meet the entirety of the criteria listed in the description.