The best recruiting cycles start with a powerful job description. Your job description is the first impression that potential candidates will have about your company, and the first impression they get is equally as important as the first impression you get.

You want to build a strong connection from the start, and create an honest job description that will net the right talent.

1. Meaningful Details

Have you ever accepted a job only to find out it wasn’t what you thought it was? A lot of your candidates have, and that’s the reason why they left their previous job. Don’t smother your list of responsibilities and qualifications with meaningless clichés. When you do that, you’re getting off on the wrong foot before you’ve even met the candidate. Always write these details in clear, original terms.

2. Something To Set You Apart

Here’s an assignment for you. Read the job description you’ve written, and then go on Gumtree to read the descriptions of similar positions that your competitors have posted. If there’s a lot of overlap, a candidate has no reason to choose you over anyone else. What makes your company different? This is one of the most pivotal details of an entire job description, and talented candidates are looking for it. Talk about your company culture, the things you do best, and the things that make you unique.

3. Visual Content

Your competitors probably don’t include visual content with their job descriptions. It’s all left up to the candidate’s imagination. Providing actual photos or videos that demonstrate the real environment the employee will be working in can help them envision themselves in that environment. Most people are visual learners, so they prefer to receive information in a way where they can clearly see it. Supporting photos and videos may help them understand the description better.

4. The Best Parts of the Job

Everything has perks. Your description should tell potential candidates not only what they’ll be doing, but what they’ll be getting for it. Not all perks come in the form of material things. Maybe their job will involve voluntary participation with nonprofit organizations for causes they’re passionate about. A job is more than just a paycheck, and every great candidate knows that. It’s your job to demonstrate that for them.

5. A Reason to Work For You

At the end of a job description, candidates ask themselves the big question; why would I want to work for this company? If they can’t answer it, they’ll move on. Discuss the rewarding parts of the work. Illustrate how their personal strengths and talents will be put to good use in achieving the company’s objectives. Where will they fit in? What is their purpose, and how will the work they do actually matter? Sometimes, the “why” is more important than the “what”. Candidates aren’t content in knowing merely what they’re doing. They want (and deserve) to know why that work is important, and how it will benefit them and everyone around them.

After you’ve proofread your job description, you’ll know you have the final draft when you can see each of these criteria satisfied. It always helps to step back and ask yourself if you would apply for this position based on the description. If you wouldn’t, you couldn’t expect anyone else to do so. Use yourself as the litmus test before you hit the submit button.

Emily Burgess is an avid blogger who enjoys writing about all aspects of improving a business, be it marketing, customer service or training. Emily is currently sharing some of her ideas at Course Guru – experts in the field of online education. Personally, she’s a great fan of foreign languages.