Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts frequently offers talks and workshops about how to interview, prepare your portfolio, and put together a resume for aspiring writers, art directors, and designers. But what about the other side of the equation? What’s the best way for a design firm, ad agency, or interactive shop to search for the right people? With the assistance of local staffing firms, including FILTER, Aquent, Big Fish, and The Smart Department, we’ve put together our thoughts on writing the right kind of job description.

Writing a job description is one of those routine parts of the hiring process that, unfortunately, gets treated as a little too routine most of the time. That’s a missed opportunity, because a well-crafted job description can help bring in the right people, filter out the ones you don’t want, and keep you out of legal hot water as well.

So what should you watch out for next time you’re writing one?

Keep it brief.
You’ll not only avoid running off qualified candidates who can’t or won’t take the time to wade through pages of text, brevity will also force you to narrow down the qualifications you’re after to the ones that are most important.

Don’t ask for the moon.
We’ve read some descriptions for some jobs that Superman would have a hard time qualifying for. Again, prioritize and list the most important tasks and qualifications, and be sure you’re creating a job spec that’s actually doable by mere mortals.

A job description isn’t a laundry list. Don’t list every possible task under the sun you’ll be asking someone to do. Prioritize. And remember that the writing of your job description can help the prospect get a better sense of your company. For example, would you rather work for the place that wants you to “act as a liaison between the firm and its clients,” or the one that hopes you can “delight and surprise clients with unexpectedly good service?”

Be specific.
It will help you evaluate candidates, and it will help candidates know whether to pursue your job if you can provide specific details about what you’re looking for. Instead of saying “requires good communication skills,” consider the more specific “must be able to prepare and give presentations to groups as large as 50.”

Write for the future.
Most job descriptions are written by asking the question, “What did Arnie do here before he quit and moved to Canada?” The historical perspective means you’re trying to fill today’s job with yesterday’s skills. Use the opportunity of writing a job description to think about how the job could be different and more valuable to the organization if the responsibilities and skills were tweaked?

There’s definitely an art to writing a great job description, but people who know how are rewarded with talent that fits better. That reward definitely makes it worthwhile to spend the extra time up front to get it right.