Craft the perfect job description: Ensure your candidates have the right English proficiency

Samantha Ball
A group of business people stood around a board with sticky notes on smiling
Reading time: 3 minutes

English is the international language of business and a foundational skill for many roles. The right level of English proficiency is key for individuals and businesses to excel.

But what is the “right” level?

English is not a one-size-fits-all skill. Customer Service Representatives need different English skills to IT Systems Managers. Senior staff will often need more advanced English skills than junior staff.

Enhance your hiring process with GSE Job Profiles
Play
Privacy and cookies

By watching, you agree app can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

We know that, for hiring professionals, it can be a challenge to work out your specific language requirements. You aren’t English assessors, so you may default to using vague descriptions, like “strong English skills” or always asking for a B2-level English certification.

But taking this approach means you might be asking for more or less proficiency than the role needs. The knock-on effect? You miss out on great candidates for your roles, spend more money upskilling new hires and waste time on unsuitable applicants.

Understanding the right level of English for your business

Being precise about the English skills needed for specific roles enables hiring managers to get the right candidate(s). It can help you:

  • Identify best-fit top talent quickly
  • Set insight-driven cut scores and progress the right percentage of quality candidates
  • Make more confident hiring decisions
  • Ensure new hires have the right skills for the role from day one

ʱ𲹰Dz’s GSE Job Profiles gives professionals accurate English language skill profiles for almost 1400 roles, so you can identify applicants with role-fit English skills.

GSE Job Profiles gives talent acquisition professionals a competitive advantage to finding the best staff. It helps you go beyond generic language skill requirements for candidates, set targeted cut scores based on global standards and reduce the risk of mis-hires. A bad hire can cost you of the employee's salary, an expense that typically increases with job level.

Powered byʱ𲹰Dz’s GSEand, GSE Job Profiles is the first and only tool mapping English skills to roles, giving you trusted global benchmarks for English language assessments. It’s the result of over 30 years of language learning, developed using real English test responses and validated by industry experts.

Defining the role requirements

Defining the role requirements is a crucial step in the hiring process. It involves identifying the key tasks, skills and qualifications needed for the role. A well-defined description helps attract the right applicant and ensures that the hiring process is focused on finding the best fit for the position.

To define the role requirements, managers should consider the following:

  • The key responsibilities and tasks associated with the role
  • The skills and qualifications required to perform the role successfully, including the precise English skills needed
  • The company culture and values that the candidate should align with
  • The long-term goals and objectives of the role

This will help attract qualified candidates and ensure that the process is efficient and effective.

How can I use the GSE Job Profiles in my job description?

Here’s how to integrate GSE Job Profiles insights into your hiring processes and hire best-fit candidates for your roles fast.

1. Identify the English skills needed for your roles:Remove the guesswork and find out the right level of English for your roles using ourGSE Job Profilesdemo or by getting in touch with our experts.

2. Assess candidates’ language ability: Use a fast, accurate and business-relevant English test, like Versant by app, to get a complete picture of your potential candidates’ language competency.

3. Compare candidate results with cut scores: Progress candidates that meet the agreed-upon required English level for the role.

4. Ensure a fast start with upskilling recommendations: Use GSE Job Profiles insights to make targeted language learning recommendations for new hires and help them thrive in their roles.

Get started with the GSE Job Profiles for your hiring process

GSE Job Profiles is a game-changer for HR professionals looking to hire top employees. By leveraging this powerful tool, you can make data-driven hiring decisions, enhance candidate-role fit, and ultimately drive business success.

Ready to revolutionize your hiring?

Try the GSE Job Profiles demo

Or, for access to the full GSE Job Profiles database,book a free consultationwith our experts now.

More blogs from app

  • A Parent reading to his two children from a book with all three of them laying on the floor

    How can teachers encourage parents to get kids reading at home?

    By Donatella Fitzgerald MBE

    “Sharing a story with your child is one of the most incredible things you can do for them.” – .

    Research shows that getting kids reading at home can increase their reading ability at school – and improve their overall well-being. Parents and guardians can make a big difference. But how can teachers encourage parents to get their children to read more at home? We explore some strategies you can use.

    Tell parents about the benefits

    Reading can give children a break from technology-centered activities. It can help them to relax and unwind; reading a book can make children laugh and feel happier! Through hearing stories, children are also exposed to a rich and broad vocabulary.

    “It is important for teachers to establish contact with parents as much as possible and give very clear guidelines on the benefits of reading, and how they can create a reading routine and help their children read at home,” says Kasia Janitz-De La Rue, Product Development Director at app.

    So, encourage parents to find time for a reading routine. Just before bedtime is a great time, as .

    Give parents practical ideas for reading strategies

    Encourage parents to read with and not to their child. It doesn’t matter how long they set aside to read – just 10 minutes of quality reading time can make a big difference.

    Here are a few tips concrete reading tips for teachers to share with parents:

    • Ask children lots of questions while reading.
    • Use encouragement and praise to keep children engaged. Saying things like “what fantastic ideas” or “you thought so carefully about that, what might happen now?"will keep their minds working.
    • Use their past experiences to talk about what’s being read. Things like “have you learnt about…at school?” or “do you remember when we watched…and found out about…?” are good conversation starters.
    • Tune in and listen to children, and be curious about their interests. “I didn’t know you knew so much about…” or “I love reading stories about…with you,” are good phrases to keep in mind.

    It’s also a great idea to share online resources with parents. You can also suggest that parents look up read-aloud YouTube videos featuring authors, teachers or librarians reading their favorite stories. This way, children can watch and listen as often as they like.

    Recommend graded readers

    Graded readers are books that use language in line with a child‘s learning level. They can help children build confidence, and help slowly expose them to authentic reading levels.

    Encourage parents to identify what genre their child is interested in and show them the readers available. Each time parents see their children move up a level, they’re sure to see their children’s love for reading grow.

    Suggest before, during, and after reading activities

    Before reading

    Parents can take turns with their children to predict what the story is about – or what will happen next. Here is an activity teachers may suggest they try:

    “Start with the cover of the book and the blurb on the back cover. Reveal the cover slowly to ask the child what they can see. Ask them to guess what is on the cover. Once they have seen the cover, ask them questions about the images on the cover – who, what, why, where and how?”

    While reading

    Remind parents to focus on their children’s reading comprehension by using strategies like prediction, questioning, clarifying, and summarising. Teachers can ask parents to:

    • check ideas and understanding as the child reads: ‘So, you think that….’ ‘Did you expect…to happen?’ ‘Why do you think that happened?’
    • use the pictures in the book to help with comprehension
    • describe what is happening and talk about the characters.

    After reading

    Don’t forget: parents can continue to explore the book’s topic once reading time is done! A few ideas to share with parents include:

    • organising a puppet show for family members and siblings after making puppets of the characters in the book
    • having children draw a picture of their favorite character or their favorite page in the story
    • encouraging children to express their opinion on the book.