Writing an effective “Job Order”

A job order is your advertisement for potential employees, who will perform specific duties that will contribute to the profitable delivery of your goods or services. Your job order needs to describe the job and also reflect positively on your company, in the same way as a newspaper ad or an ad on your web site.

The Job Title:

Avoid using internal job classifications or generic job titles.  For example, “Receiving Dock Worker” is preferred over “Laborer- Class III”, “Accounting Clerk/Assistant” would be preferred over “Office Clerk” and "HVAC Service Tech" or "Computer Service Tech" would be preferred over the generic "Service Technician".

The Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Describe the duties of the job in a clear, concise manner. DO NOT use a four-page internal position description designed to satisfy OSHA or your union. It’s not necessary to inform the job seeker that he/she must: (1) check fuel on forklift, (2) adjust forks to proper width, (3) turn on forklift ignition, (4) place forklift in gear and release clutch, etc. It’s only necessary to say “able to use a propane forklift to unload trucks and stack material in fifteen-foot high racks.

To save time, iIt’s possible to copy and paste information directly from an MS Word document or your company web-site. The advantage is that the job description has already been proof-read, spell checked and approved.

For Education, Training, Professional Licenses/Certificates, Experience, Qualifications:

Tell us your vision of the perfect candidate, but let us know if you are willing to train. This is a judgement call on your part, but may help to find the right person for your position. For example “Wisconsin Certified Nursing Assistant or able to be trained and certified within 60 days.” is a very good compromise.  Sometimes education, training and licenses are part of a candidate's experience or qualifications. For example, “Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) or Associate Degree and four years design experience in commercial construction.”

Avoid abbreviations or at least explain them, for example:
CNA = Certified Nursing Assistant or Certified Novell Administrator
ATM = automatic teller machine or asynchronous transfer mode
CERT = Certified/Certification or Computer Emergency Response Team, and many others

Avoid internal company terms like “Specialist 4” (customer service lead worker), “First Impression Specialist” (front desk receptionist), “Center-of-the-Plate” (chef), etc- especially in Job Titles.

How to Apply:

If possible, offer several ways to apply and make the application process simple! Not everyone can take off work to “apply in person”, has a computer to “apply on-line or send an e-mail”, or access to a fax machine.  If you require that an applicant "Apply Online" or "on our web site", be sure to test the links.  Also, make sure that the links are easy to find.  Consider whether you (or your assistant) will accept phone calls or inquiries. Although calls can be inconvenient, you can discourage inappropriate or mismatched written applications and resumes, while strongly encouraging that one-in-ten thousand job seeker.”

Finally, proof-read and review your job order:

This includes not only spelling but lay-out, as well. You wouldn’t send an advertisement to a newspaper or put it on your web site without proof reading. Do the same with YOUR job order. If you are entering the job order directly on-line, use the “Preview” and “Save Incomplete” features frequently. If you are faxing or mailing your job order to the Job Center of Wisconsin, review it after it goes on-line, in the same way you would review a newspaper ad. You can review your job order by going to www.jobcenterofwisconsin.com and selecting JOB SEARCH in the upper right..

If you have a question or need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact The Job Center of Wisconsin.  To reach Job Center of Wisconsin's Customer Service:

By phone:  1-888-258-9966 and select Option 3 for employer assistance

By e-mail:  WIJobOrders@dwd.wisconsin.gov.