Your Job Description Is Your First Impression
Before any candidate speaks to your recruiter or visits your office, they read your job description. It's often the first thing they know about your company and the role. A well-written description attracts the right candidates, sets accurate expectations, reduces attrition (because hires know what they're getting into), and reflects positively on your employer brand.
A poorly written one — with jargon, unrealistic requirements, or zero information about compensation — drives away good candidates who have options.
Start With the Role, Not the Person
The most common job description mistake is writing a wish list of the ideal candidate rather than a clear description of the job. Before writing a single word about requirements, answer these questions:
- What problem does this role exist to solve?
- What will this person actually do day-to-day in the first 90 days?
- What does success look like at 6 months and 12 months?
- Who will this person work with most closely?
- What decisions will they make or influence?
Answering these questions gives you the content for a job description. Starting with "requirements" gives you a wishlist that bears little resemblance to the actual role.
Job Title: Be Searchable, Not Creative
Creative job titles ("Ninja Developer," "Head of Happiness," "Growth Hacker") don't appear when candidates search for "software engineer" or "customer success manager." Use the title candidates will actually search for, even if your internal title is different.
Also avoid titles that are inflated or misleading — listing a mid-level role as "Senior" to attract more applications, then revealing the seniority level in the interview, wastes everyone's time and damages trust.
The Structure of an Effective Job Description
1. Company Introduction (2–3 sentences)
What does the company do? Who are your customers? What stage are you at? Give candidates enough context to know if they care about what you build. Don't just reuse marketing copy — write for a candidate who wants to understand what they'd be joining.
2. The Role Summary (1 paragraph)
A brief paragraph explaining why this role exists, how it fits into the organisation, and what it's trying to achieve. This is the most skimmed section — make it interesting and clear.
3. What You'll Do (Responsibilities)
Write five to eight specific, concrete responsibilities — not generic corporate language. "Manage projects" is vague. "Lead the launch of two to three product features per quarter from scoping through to deployment, working with engineering and design" is specific. Use active verbs: build, design, lead, analyse, create, own.
List the most important or exciting responsibilities first. If day-to-day work is less glamorous but necessary (data entry, admin, reporting), be honest about the proportion — surprises after hire cause attrition.
4. What You'll Bring (Requirements)
Split requirements into two lists:
- Required: Skills and experience that are genuinely non-negotiable. Be strict about this list — if someone without a specific skill could still do the job well, it doesn't belong here.
- Nice to have: Skills that would make someone a stronger candidate but aren't essential.
Research shows that women are less likely than men to apply for a role if they don't meet all stated requirements. Keeping the required list short and honest increases applications from strong candidates who might otherwise self-select out.
Avoid requiring X years of experience as a proxy for skill level — it's a legally questionable requirement and poor predictor of capability. If you need someone who can do Y, say that and let the candidate evidence it.
5. Salary and Benefits
Include the salary range. Always. In many jurisdictions it's now legally required. Beyond compliance, roles with salary information listed receive significantly more applicants and better-quality ones — candidates who apply knowing the salary are a better fit from the start, and you avoid wasting everyone's time in process only to discover a mismatch at the offer stage.
List key benefits: remote/hybrid policy, holiday allowance, pension/401k, healthcare, professional development budget, parental leave. These affect candidate decision-making as much as salary.
6. Avoid Bias in Language
Research shows that certain words in job descriptions systematically deter applications from women and underrepresented groups. Words like "dominant," "aggressive," "competitive," "ninja," "rock star" skew male. Words like "collaborative," "support," "develop" attract more diverse candidates. Tools like Textio or Gender Decoder can flag biased language.
Be explicit about your commitment to equal opportunity if you mean it — and mean it if you say it.
After You Post: Keep It Honest
Update your job description if the role changes during the hiring process. If you've had the vacancy for six months and the requirements have evolved, don't interview candidates against the original brief. Misleading candidates about the role — even unintentionally — leads to early exits that cost everyone.