What a job description is for
Not to attract the most applicants. To attract the right ones and give the wrong ones enough information to opt out.
That distinction changes how you write. A vague, broadly appealing post produces a large pile of applications that mostly do not fit, and someone then spends days filtering. A specific post produces fewer applications with a much higher hit rate, which is a better trade at any size and especially at a small one.
The test
Could this description be your competitor's, with the name swapped? If yes, it will attract people who are applying to fifty companies. The specifics you are tempted to remove for polish are the things doing the filtering.
The structure
Five sections, under 600 words in total.
The problem, not the company boilerplate
Open with what is broken or unbuilt that this person will own. "Our customers wait two days for a reply because one person handles every enquiry" tells a candidate more than three paragraphs about your mission.
Company background belongs further down, in two or three sentences.
First 60 words matter mostWhat the first six months look like
Concretely. What they will work on in month one, what should be true by month six, and who they will work with.
This is the section candidates say is most useful and the one most job posts omit entirely, replacing it with a list of responsibilities that describes the role in the abstract.
The most useful sectionWhat you actually need them to be able to do
Capabilities, not credentials. "Has run outbound for a business selling to small companies" beats "3-5 years B2B sales experience".
Four or five items. If your list has twelve, you are describing two jobs or a person who does not exist.
Four or five, no moreThe honest constraints
Small team with no process yet, on-call rotation, significant travel, a legacy system that is unpleasant to work with.
Saying the difficult thing filters out people who would resent it and attracts people who are fine with it. Discovering it in week two produces a resignation in month three.
Filters better than any requirementPay, location, and how to apply
A real range, the actual location expectation including office days, and what happens after applying with a rough timeline.
Vagueness on any of these reads as either disorganisation or something being hidden, and both cost you good candidates.
Specific on all three
Requirements that quietly exclude people
Some conventional requirements filter out capable candidates while catching nobody unsuitable.
| Common requirement | The problem | Better version |
|---|---|---|
| "5+ years experience" | Usually invented. Excludes fast learners | "Has done this independently before" |
| "Degree required" | Rarely predicts performance | Remove, unless legally necessary |
| Long list of specific tools | Screens for coincidence, not capability | "Comfortable learning new tools quickly" |
| "Must thrive under pressure" | Reads as a warning about the culture | Describe the actual workload honestly |
| "Rockstar", "ninja", "wizard" | Signals an unserious employer | Use the ordinary word |
| Twelve bullet points of requirements | Deters people who meet ten of them | Cut to the five that matter |
The last row has a well-documented asymmetry: candidates from under-represented groups are markedly more likely to self-select out when they do not meet every listed requirement. A long list therefore narrows your pool in a direction you probably did not intend, without improving quality.
What to cut
The mission paragraph at the top. Move it down or cut it. Nobody chooses a job on the basis of a mission statement they read in the first thirty seconds.
Responsibilities lists. "Manage the pipeline, report on performance, collaborate with stakeholders" describes any job in any company. Replace with the six-month section.
Perks that are not perks. Free coffee, a laptop, and a friendly team are baseline. Listing them suggests you have nothing else to offer.
"Other duties as required." Everyone knows. It reads as a warning.
Anything you would not repeat to the person's face in month two. If the post promises autonomy and the reality is approval for everything, you have hired someone who will leave.
The final check is worth doing out loud: read the post as though you were a strong candidate who already has a decent job. Does anything in it give you a reason to want this specific role at this specific company? If not, add the specific thing you were tempted to leave out.
Once the post is right, the process behind it has to match. A precise description followed by an unstructured, meandering interview process tells candidates that the precision was marketing. Our guide to a structured interview process covers the next step, and hiring your first five employees covers what to prioritise when the whole company is still small enough that every hire changes it.
Frequently asked questions
- Should a job description include salary?
- Yes, or a genuine range. Omitting it wastes everyone's time through the process and disadvantages candidates who negotiate less confidently. In several jurisdictions it is now a legal requirement, so check the rules where you are hiring.
- How long should a job description be?
- Under 600 words. Long posts are skimmed, and the parts that get skipped are usually the parts that would have filtered for fit. Detail is better placed in the first conversation.
- Should you list required years of experience?
- Only where the number genuinely reflects something. Most stated year requirements are invented, and they exclude capable people while doing nothing to filter out unsuitable ones.
- How specific should a job title be?
- Specific enough to be searchable and honest about scope. Invented titles are not findable, and inflated ones create a mismatch that surfaces in the first week. Use the term people would search for.
- Does mentioning company culture help?
- Only if it is specific and testable. "We write things down rather than meeting about them" tells someone something. "We are passionate and fast-paced" appears in every job post and filters for nobody.