Total Talent Management

Job posting components

Last updated: August 16, 2024

Job postings are used to inform applicants about an open position and attract them to apply for the job. While a position description is an internal document that provides detailed information about the job function, duties assigned, responsibilities, and minimum requirements, the job posting is much more brief and is a hiring department’s opportunity to market the position and education applicants about the opening.

Ensuring job postings are inclusive and appeal to a broad audience is vital to attract and build a more diverse workforce. Use conversational, less technical and gender-neutral language (gender decoder tool) that is appealing to a broad audience and avoid UW jargon that may be exclusive to internal applicants. Job postings should be optimized for keyword searches, as applicants typically search by keyword to find jobs they are interested in.

Components of a typical job posting

At the UW, job postings follow a typical structure that supports applicants’ user experience when reviewing multiple openings across UW departments. Your recruiting partner will work with you to create the job posting, ensure posting consistency, and ensure it meets other job posting requirements such as those associated with the pay transparency. We encourage you to use this guide to boost the appeal of your job posting.

Job postings typically follow the following structure:

Introduction text

A short sentence about the job opening that should include information about work schedule and shift, including whether the position may be eligible for telework.

Department description

Make sure to highlight this section with a short, concise and compelling department description to set your department apart from others, including outside employers.

Position highlights

Provides a 3-5 bullet point high-level overview of why the position exists and identifies the most important aspects of the position. It’s an opportunity to highlight the employee value proposition for this role.

Department diversity commitment statement

In addition to the UW’s institutional diversity commitment statement in all job postings (see below), hiring managers may choose from one of the following three statements to add at the top of the job positing to further emphasize their department’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion:

  1. Each member of the [department/school] is committed to working to build and sustain an equitable and inclusive work environment where cultural diversity is celebrated and valued. We believe diversity benefits and enriches the development of all students, staff and faculty in our department.
  2. Leadership, staff and faculty have identified equity and social justice as core values for the [school/department]. We believe the quality of these values are enhanced and strengthened by working and learning from people with diverse experiences from all over the world. Our goal is not only advance equity and justice at the University of Washington but to improve equity and justice on a global scale.
  3. Diversity is a core value at University of Washington and in the school/department. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment for all students, staff and faculty. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design and deliver solutions.
Primary job responsibilities

In 3-7 bullet points, outline the specific functions and duties regularly performed. This does not need to be an exhaustive list of all the responsibilities of the job. Avoid using “other duties as assigned” and do not copy the position description.

Minimum qualifications / Requirements

Job requirements as established in the position description establish criteria recruiting partners and hiring teams will use to screen applicants’ eligibility. It is important requirements are reasonable, clear, detailed and accessibly written. Recruiting partners should be able to assess minimum qualifications from a resume review only.

As of June 6, 2024, for classified jobs, two- or four- year degree requirements may not be the only way to demonstrate qualifications for a position unless those requirements are required by law for an employee to perform the essential function of a classification. As such, each job posting is reviewed for standard equivalency language: “Equivalent education/experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.”

When possible, use education and experience equivalencies to provide alternative options for potential candidates to meet the qualifications. Consider competencies, transferable skills, and equivalent experience when developing requirements.

Desired qualifications

This section can generally be omitted and should only be used if there are specific, desired qualifications that an “ideal” candidate would possess to quickly perform work in the position. Advanced degrees can be listed, but may create an unnecessary exclusion and limit the diversity of your applicant pool. When possible, limit your requirements to “must haves.” The goal is not to lower your standards, but to eliminate unnecessary barriers and create more equitable and inclusive recruiting practices.

Conditions of employment

For certain jobs, conditions of employment may be included in job postings to highlight requirements and rules that the selected employee would have to agree to follow were they to get the job. These can include conditions such as the requirement to work onsite during an operational suspension (essential staff), working hours, or physical fitness requirements.

Other standard language

Each job posting in UWHIRES will automatically include standard institution-wide statements on the following: