How to write a good manufacturing job description

Advertising manufacturing job vacancies is something of an art. If you want to fill key positions, you need to attract the right kind of talent. To do that, you need to be clear about what you want

.As a specialist manufacturing recruitment agency, we see good job descriptions all the time. But we also see quite a few that could be clearer.

Here’s what you need to do to write a description that will get you the right kind of candidates for manufacturing jobs

Key elements of a good manufacturing job description

1) Skillset and experience

It might be the obvious place to start, but it’s also the best place. The list of required skills and experience is the place most candidates will start looking, asking themselves “can I apply for this?”

So if you have any non-negotiables, this is the place to put them. Is that previous experience in another manufacturing engineer job role a requirement or just desirable?

Whatever you want is okay. But you do need to be clear about what that is.

2) Soft skills and personality

Some people dismiss this as something too wishy-washy to mention on a job description. But hiring someone who is a poor personality fit for the rest of your team is an easy way to end up going through the entire manufacturing recruitment process again a few months from now.

Soft skills might include things like leadership, delegation, or communication skills, depending on the role.

Consider how you might suggest the kind of attitude and personality you’re looking for in your job description. You might be able to imply it with a description that’s strongly part of your company’s culture. You might just come right out and say what you want.

3) Up-to-date information

It’s surprising how many manufacturers simply re-use old job descriptions from years ago. This is almost always going to end up finding you candidates that aren’t who you want.

Manufacturing is an industry that sees frequent changes. Equally, your company isn’t the same as it was all those years ago.

Have a think about the type of person you really want and then edit your old job description or consider starting from fresh.

4) Appeal

A good job description makes it clear what you want to “buy”. It also makes clear what you have to “sell”. What does your role offer the lucky candidate who gets it?

Because it’s a competitive jobs market out there. What’s more, the desires of the modern workforce are different to the desires of even a few years ago.

Flexible working conditions. Action on green issues. Good work-life balance. Increasingly, people – especially younger Gen Z candidates – want to know about more than just the salary and benefits you offer.

(Of course, don’t neglect to mention key information like the salary and benefits you offer.)

5) An honest picture of the day-to-day

One thing that leads to high turnover in manufacturing jobs is a hiring description that isn’t transparent about what the role actually entails.

Picture a company that hires someone by heavily implying a job with creative freedom and flexibility. That hire then turns up to find their new boss expects them in the office strictly 9-5, getting on with rote tasks they’ve been given.

That is not an honest job description. Make sure yours is accurate and provides a good indication of what candidates will actually be doing should you choose to hire them if you want to get and keep the right talent.

If your manufacturing job descriptions aren’t getting you the right people for the job, it might be time to get some expert help.

Let’s talk. Ernest Gordon is a specialist manufacturing recruitment agency. Work with us to produce a job description that will find you the right talent.

Tell us about the kind of person you’re looking for. Let us do the hard work of finding them for you.