The Complete Guide: How to Write a Job Description for a Remote Position

Here is an ultimate guide on how to write a remote job description that will surely connect you with qualified talents:

1. Write an accurate job title

An appropriate and clear job title easily shows up in the search results. Candidates tend to use keyword job descriptions such as “Content Writer,” “Social Media Manager,” and others to search for new roles. It will be hard for job seekers to land in your job posting if you write an unsuitable title. You must refrain from adding funny words, including cool, rockstar, unbeatable, etc. Keep in mind that simplicity can be an advantage.

2. Make it brief but comprehensive

A clearly-written job description does not have to be long as long as it can provide all the necessary information that job seekers need and want to know. Remember that you are enticing remote job seekers to apply to your company, and you do not wish to receive unqualified candidates as much as possible. Providing essential details, namely, duties and responsibilities, salary, job specification, company’s expectations, hiring process, qualifications, requirements, etc., helps you inform them about the kind of employee you are looking for. With this, both parties can save time and effort.

3. Use gender-neutral language

Of course, you want to let remote job seekers know that your company is a safe space for everyone regardless of gender. Using inclusive language can help encourage more applications than work from home job descriptions with gendered words. According to a study, making job descriptions to sound more masculine demotivates women to apply. Instead of writing a salesman or saleswoman, use a gender-sensitive word like a salesperson.

4. Include commonly searched keywords

Adding keywords in a job description avoids confusion among job seekers. You must emphasize words such as work from home, virtual, remote, and work from anywhere to clarify that the new role is a remote job and not an on-site position. Plus, these keywords help your job posting stand out in the search results and attract potential talents. Rather than plainly stating the duties, you may use the keyword work from home job duties.

However, you need to define common keywords like remote and flexible properly. It can be confusing, especially for newbies. Flexible and remote jobs do not necessarily mean that employees can work all the time from home and whatever hours they like.

5. Specify the equipment needed for the remote work

Describing the specific equipment needed for the remote work in your job description helps you address technical issues and conflicts ahead of time. Some tasks require higher specs of the laptop or computer and a fast internet speed, particularly for remote administrative jobs. With this, job seekers will know if they need to upgrade their current equipment or just look for another remote admin job that requires lower specs. Plus, you need to indicate whether you will provide the equipment and technical support for them.

6. Highlight the perks and benefits

Just like when you are negotiating with your clients and customers, highlighting the benefits and perks you give to your employees in your job description is one of the best ways you can encourage them to apply. You can illustrate how much growth and improvement they can get upon joining your company. Are there health insurance and wellness reimbursement? How do you compensate your employees? How does your company describe working remotely? You can consider answering these questions in your job description.

7. Include screening questions

Requiring remote job seekers to answer screening questions can make the recruitment and hiring process fast and efficient. For remote administrative assistant jobs, you can ask questions regarding their experience using communication platforms and tools. It will help you determine whether they have read the full job description or not. You may also allow them to choose to answer the questions written or recorded.

On top of that, it can serve as the initial screening to assess the applicants and know them better. It will give them a chance to understand how it feels like to work in your company.

Moving Forward

Overall, an effective remote job description contains all the essential details written in a simple, gender-neutral, and engaging language. Indicating the qualifications, skills, requirements, roles, and responsibilities is a great way to attract qualified candidates for the position. It also filters out those who are not well suited for the position. The success of your company depends on your employees, which starts from a better remote job description.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there free job posting templates available online?

Luckily, there are tons of free and customizable job posting templates online. For instance, you can choose from the example of a job description for a sales associate and administrative assistant job description. It is advisable to use the templates as inspiration only, do not copy all the information. It will make your job posting generic and bland.

How do you write a catchy job description?

To catch the attention of remote job seekers, you must sell your company. You can do this by providing them an engaging overview of the role, benefits, clear title, and a call to action or words of urgency. Of course, following all the steps and tips mentioned above will surely help you develop a catchy and compelling job description.

What are the responsibilities I need to include in a project manager job

description?

In general, the project manager is responsible for organizing the organization’s tasks and people, monitoring the project’s flow, planning and implementing business operations, and launching and closing the project. A project manager is also accountable for the success of the project. Remember, it is just a general responsibility, and you can still add some more if needed.

Should I indicate skills in a cashier job description?

Yes, you must include the skills that a cashier should have. It will let them know that you are looking for an employee who possesses specific skills. Such skills include basic math, attention to detail, problem-solving, proper cash handling, accuracy, integrity, and more.

Does Rivermate offer online courses on how to write a job description?

Example “Introduction to a job posting.”

No, Rivermate is not offering any online courses at the moment. However, we provide informative articles about compliance, HR, tax, remote jobs, and more. Reading our blogs can surely help you answer your questions, particularly the FAQs section.

Why is my job posting not getting any traction?

If you are wondering why you are not receiving the expected amount of applications, the following might be the reasons:

• Inappropriate Title. When job seekers look and search for a particular job, they will type the name of the position they are applying for. You need to make sure that you used an accurate title and did not combine two roles in one title (e.g., Cashier and Web Developer).
• Incomplete information. Maybe you forgot to include the benefits and perks or the salary. You better check if all the details are correct and complete them first before posting your job description. If your job posting is lackluster, there is a possibility that you might miss out on the right candidate for the role.
• You are not on the right platform. Aside from the job description’s technicality, one factor that can help you attract applicants is knowing the right platform to post your listing. For instance, if you are looking for Filipino remote employees, posting your job description on other countries’ job site is not the best option.** **
• The hiring process is too demanding. Adding screening questions to your job description can indeed help you in a lot of ways. However, you need to make sure that you do not ask the applicants too demanding questions or tasks. They will quickly lose interest in applying.

Is there a tool to sort out hundreds of applicants?

Yes, some job posting sites offer a candidate filtering feature. This tool helps you screen hundreds of applicants to filter out those who are not qualified based on the description and qualifications you have indicated. The experience level, technical requirements, educational background, location, and more are the sorting process bases.

What are the responsibilities that I need to indicate in a remote customer

service job description?

In a broader sense, remote customer service representatives are responsible for taking customer calls regarding travel booking, inquiries, cancellations, reservations, and more. The responsibilities you need to include in a remote customer service job description should align with your company’s type of service or product.

Are you struggling with your remote job description? Rivermate**** can help you. We are dedicated to assisting companies to hire remote employees anywhere in the world. We got your back in delivering success to your business.