If you look at the best job descriptions (below) you’ll notice a pattern. Most have:

  • Multi-Column Format — Easier to read. That’s why most magazines and newspapers use them!
  • Good Employer Branding — Consistent color, font and perhaps even corporate messaging (especially helpful if a candidate comes from a job board and hasn’t seen the rest of your career site yet!)
  • Extra relevant Content (beyond the job description text) — Do you really want to bet the farm on just your JD text?
  • Proven apply rate boosters (such as highlighting your benefits)
  • Clear call-to-actions — This is an ad — make clear what you want the candidate to do!

Here are the 10 best job descriptions we’ve seen lately in no particular order. All are awesome. Enjoy!

1) Commission Junction

  • A gallery of hero media pics (great employer branding!)
  • Dual-column format — easier to read
  • An About Team text blurb
  • A Walkscore showing how walkable, bikeable and transit-friendly the job is
CJ job description

2) Babbel

  • Powerful hero media
  • Headline over the hero media is slick
  • Dual-column format is easier to read than single-column
  • A bulleted list of benefits and why to work there in the right-hand rail (benefits increase apply rates)
Babbel job description

3) Lindt

  • Consistent Employment Branding — Notice the beige background and different shades of their caramel brown? They put some marketing/branding time into these job pages.
  • A “Why”-oriented headline
  • Right-hand rail with extra relevant content
Lindt job description

4) ThyssenKrupp

  • Hero Media with a headline
  • 3-Column format — sometimes 3 columns can be even easier to read than 2.
  • A list of benefits at the bottom (with icons). Benefits increase apply rates so it’s usually worth stylizing if you can.
    ThyssenKrupp job description

5) Fiserv

  • Bold employer branding (color, fonts et al)
  • Solid hero media
  • A “find your forward” headline just for job opportunities
  • The call-to-action (Apply button) pops
  • Other relevant content (location, links to culture articles and a candidate resource center)
Fiserv job description

6) Zillow

  • Location-based Content — Check out the image. It’s a San Francisco pic for a San Francisco job.
  • Relevant Blog Content — A link to content that the candidate might be interested in.
  • Benefits — They stylize their benefits. A refreshing alternative compared to just listing out bullets in text.
  • A “Picture Yourself Here” type video
Zillow job description

7) Macy’s

  • Video as hero media
  • Dual- Column — more readable
  • Team-specific intro text

8) Jazz Pharmaceuticals

  • Hero media
  • Consistent color scheme on call-to-action buttons (Apply and email job alert).
  • Dual-column with relevant content (video blog, related jobs, email job alert, talent community) in the right-hand
Jazz Pharma job description

9) Waste Management

  • Strong hero media
  • Dual-column format for better readability
  • Valuable content in right-hand rail (email job alert, diversity article, corporate video, etc.)
Waste Management job description

10) Citizens Bank

  • Employment Brand — Consistent use of color
  • Dual-Column — Job pages, like most pages, are easier to read with 2 or more columns.
  • Related Jobs
Citizens Bank job description

For some tips on writing job descriptions, check out How to Write a Job Description — Best Practices & Examples.

Why I wrote this?

I wrote this because my team and I at Ongig are on a mission to give you the best job descriptions in the world. And we want you to get inspired! Ping us if you’d like to transform YOUR job descriptions.

by in Job Descriptions