Having trouble writing a job description?
Looking for ways to stand out from the competition in your job advert?
By watching this video, you can simplify the process of writing a job description, and learn how to write one that will attract and hire the right people!
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Sales recruitment starts with attracting top candidates to your business.
Devising an engaging sales job description is key to help you attract the best candidate for your job.
A job description is usually the first thing that a candidate will read about your company and the role you are hiring for.
First impressions count, so it is important that your job overview is informative and compelling enough to stand out.
As such, it is essential that your job advert is accurate enough to target the right candidates, and appealing enough to make those candidates want to apply.
Hiring salespeople for your business and not sure how to write a good job description?
If you’re searching for tips on job advert writing, this blog aims to provide the ultimate guide on job specifications, identifying what makes a good job advert and supplying job description templates.
Looking to hire sales talent? Get in touch and discover how we can add exceptional sales candidates to your business!
A job description is a summary of the main responsibilities, requirements and benefits of a role.
The purpose of a job description is to advertise a vacant role and act as the first point of contact for potential candidates.
Job descriptions can be found on a company's 'work for us' page, platforms such as Google and LinkedIn, as well as recruitment websites and online job boards.
Traditional media is also used to display job adverts. For instance, a local business that is recruiting sales people may place a job advert in the local newspaper.
On the other end of the scale, a FTSE 100 company may advertise the vacancy of a senior position in publications like The Economist magazine.
Please note: the phrases 'job description', 'job specification' and 'job advertisement' are often used interchangeably.
Job descriptions are designed to not only advertise and inform, but to enable candidates to picture themselves in a job.
It is important to recognise that job descriptions are essential for SEO purposes - the higher the specification ranks on Google, the higher the number of applications.
By outlining details about the company, the key responsibilities of the role, the requirements of the job and the benefits, candidates are able to gain a clear picture of the role and discern whether it is suitable for them.
In this sense, a good job advert will reach the right candidates, not just the most candidates.
Writing a good job description starts with writing a good job title.
Job descriptions that stand out are titled effectively.
It is important that your sales job title is targeted, concise and includes keywords that accrue a high amount of searches.
For example, if you are looking to hire a senior salesperson that is responsible for generating new business, 'Business Development Manager' would be an effective title.
An inviting tone of voice is crucial when it comes to job advert wording more generally.
In terms of content, a good job description will include:
1. Company Profile
Most job specifications start with a company profile that contains general information about your business.
Importantly, your company profile should be extensive enough to show off your business and entice candidates to join your team.
Consider the following talking points:
Information to include:
2. Job Responsibilities
Your job description and responsibilities section should provide candidates with a snapshot of what their day-to-day tasks will involve.
A good job description enables a candidate to picture themselves in the role and provides them with an understanding of whether they would be a good fit or not.
It's a good idea to display the key responsibilities in bullet points, making sure they are as detailed as possible so that you provide a clear picture of the role to potential candidates.
Consider the following talking points:
Information to include:
3. Job Requirements
The job requirements section contains a list of what applicants need in order to be considered for the role.
It is important that a candidate can discern whether they are qualified or not from the information you provide in the job requirements section. knows whether they are qualified for the role.
If descriptions can be specific enough to include industry-relevant keywords, such as CRM, PPC or Java, this will help SEO-wise and in terms of streamlining efforts.
Consider the following:
Information to include:
4. Salary & Benefits
As the final section of the job description, the benefits of the job segment serves to inform the candidate of the job salary, holiday allowance and other work perks.
To make sure the job is attractive, you should aim for at least five bullet points.
Consider the following:
Information to include:
Make sure to list the salary transparently instead of labelling it as ‘competitive’ - displaying the pay in terms of numbers is more appealing to prospective candidates.
Great sales candidates know their worth, so it is important to take some time to research industry standards around salaries, in order to offer a competitive package that will help secure top talent.
If in doubt, our Graduate Employment Statistics Archive holds the average salaries for a range of industries, including sales - check it out!
Not sure how to calculate annual leave days? Find out annual leave allowance for part-time and full-time salespeople with our UK holiday entitlement calculator!
When looking into how to write a good job advert, it is always helpful to see an example job description.
Let's take a look at a couple of example job adverts...
Business Development Executive
On the hunt for Business Development opportunities in London? Keen to work for a leading media agency? Apply to this Business Development Executive job today!
Company Profile
In this Business Development job, you will be joining one of the UK's fastest-growing media agencies, with billings of over £100 million. Our business is designed to boost clients' brand growth through campaigns across traditional and digital media. Our ambitious team has a fantastic track record of building small brands into household names, such as Cazoo, Now TV, MoonPig and much more! Due to recent success, the London team is now looking for a new Business Development Executive.
Job Description
We are looking for an ambitious salesperson to help further the company’s growth and exceed the company's KPIs. In this Business Development job, you will spend most of your time conducting research and identify leads and opportunities that fit the target brief. You will work with the marketing team to create and close new business opportunities through campaign demonstrations. The role requires an inquisitive mind, intuition, and a preference to work independently for long periods of time.
Key Responsibilities
- Self-sourcing leads and building a healthy pipeline to close business
- Meeting and exceeding company KPI’s
- Closing deals from inbound marketing leads
- Communicating key benefits to potential clients (calls, emails, meetings, etc)
- Setting up and running campaign demonstrations
- Negotiating fees and payment terms
- Updating and logging information on our company CRM
Job Requirements
- A highly driven graduate, ideally with a 2.1 or above
- Experience within a sales-based role is a bonus but not necessary
- Willing to work remotely
- Ambitious and highly motivated with a great work ethic
- Hungry for success and a natural closer
- Adaptable team player
- Great verbal and written communication skills, with a personable phone manner
Salary & Benefits
- A salary of £25,000 - £30,000 ( + uncapped OTE)
- 30 days holiday (not including bank holidays)
- Flexible working options
- Internal and external training from industry experts
- Progression plan with regular salary reviews
- Access to private health care
- Great company culture with regular team socials
Sales Manager
Looking for Sales Manager jobs in Manchester? Interested in working for a growing PropTech startup? Apply to this Sales Manager role today!
Company Profile
In this Sales Manager role, you will be joining an innovative proptech startup, backed by world-class venture capital investors. Originally formed as a public scheme to make buildings more eco friendly, we have since privatised and changed to a SAAS model. We have been incredibly successful and now work with small to mid size businesses all across the UK. We've recently won 6m in funding and are looking to rapidly expand our team.
Job Description
In this Sales Manager, you will be a vital member of our field-based sales team. The role will involve a mix of office-based working and travelling to meet with clients across Manchester. You will strive to have a huge impact on growth through your close and fruitful partnership with clients that you have identified, qualified and onboarded to our platform. Crucially, you will be able to identify the objectives and challenges specific to each trades business you onboard in order to frame the offering in a way that feels personal and compelling to them.
Key Responsibilities
- Building a solid and constant pipeline
- Quickly grasping the tools used to run sales (Hubspot, Looker etc)
- When qualifying clients, identifying specific situations that you can assist with, and proposing a tailored solution
- (Over)delivering the monthly numbers required for growth
- Collaborating with other team members in the business to do what it takes for your engineers to thrive
- Identifying common objections and potential opportunities to improve the wider sales approach
- Managing relationships with new and existing clients
Job Requirements
- A minimum of a 2.1 degree from university
- 2-3+ years experience in a sales or business development role
- Motivated and organised - an ability to meet targets
- Leadership skills - an ability to be assertive with clients
- A strong work ethic and a proactive approach
- A valid UK drivers license
Salary & Benefits
- A great base salary of £30,000 - £35,000 (+ commission)
- £5000 annual car allowance
- Quarterly salary reviews
- Team-based monthly bonuses
- A lively and sociable start-up environment
- Regular team dinners and weekly pub trips
- Access to Headspace & mental health support
- Discounted gym membership
(Disclaimer: These job adverts are entirely fictional and only to be used as job description examples).
Both the business development executive job description and sales manager job description can be used as job advertisement templates for a sales executive job description and an account executive job description.
Using these job specification examples as templates for job adverts will enable you to succeed in attracting top sales candidates.
To be clear, when writing a sales job description, you should not be aiming for the 'perfect' job description.
The style, format and content of a job description will vary depending on the company that is hiring and the type of role that is being advertised.
Regardless of these variables, what a good job description should include remains consistent:
In terms of marketing, a good job advert will be accompanied by an effective organic strategy (email campaigns, social media, SEO) that will enable greater candidate conversions.
If budget allows, this organic strategy can be complimented by paid ads, to ensure that your job description stands out amongst the crowd.
After all, jobs in sales are notoriously abundant - a good job advertisement needs to be distinct.
Whilst the examples provided can be used as job advert templates, it is important to ensure your job ads are unique.
Remember, you do not just want to attract people that want to work in sales, you want to attract people that want to work for you.
Whether you're hiring account managers or advertising sales executive jobs, writing a good job description is the first step to finding top talent.
If you’re looking to hire salespeople for your business, get in touch and discover how we can help to grow your teams this year.
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