Creating Job Descriptions

To attract outstanding talent, it is important for job adverts to have a concise and detailed description. Although we do not require a particular format for the adverts, as part of our Vacancy Advertising Policy we do ask that you provide students with the following details:

• Company background
  • Give a short summary about the company e.g. well established, newly founded, start-up
  • What is your company's area of expertise?
  • Are you a local, national or international organisation?
• Job title
  • Be specific if possible (not just ‘intern’ or ‘graduate’)
• Job type
  • Intern
  • Placement year student
  • Graduate
  • Part-time
• Job description and responsibilities
  • What does the job entail?
  • What are the expectations and responsibilities of the role?
  • What are the different stages or rotations of the job?
  • What support is available for the candidate?
• Qualifications and experience needed in order to fulfil the role
  • Which year group is the qualification aimed at?
  • What type of experience are required? Is it entry level is it more advanced and requires students to be further into their studies?
  • Is the role limited to certain degrees or open to all?
• Career progression and outlook
  • Is the opportunity a feeder for later graduate recruitment?
  • Will student interns be able to return to work full-time once they have graduated?
  • Is the opportunity a prerequisite in order to be employed as a graduate?
• Perks and benefits
  • Annual leave entitlement
  • Hybrid working policy
  • Personal wellbeing (e.g. private healthcare)
  • Subsidised public transport
  • Amenities on site
  • Incentives
  • Social life (Pub Fridays, team sports)
• Salary
  • Specifying salary brackets are better than ‘competitive’ or ‘meets national minimum wage’

• Information about the application process
• List the requirements (e.g. CV and tailored cover letter, application form) and a broad overview of the recruitment process (e.g. application, assessment centre, interview)
• Reasonable adjustments policies
• Contact information
• Email address is sufficient here
• Deadline for applications
• Is it a rolling recruitment or do you hire at specific times of the year?

Example Job Descriptions

Below you can access two example job descriptions to help you get a better idea of what a good job description looks like. The first one is for permanent and graduate level role, whereas the second one is suitable for if you are offering work experience opportunities, such as placement year or internships.

Example Job Description (Graduate Role)

Example Job Description (Work Experience)