Writing a job description is easy. All you’ve got to do is list a few requirements and describe the role right? Wrong! The job description has a huge effect on which candidates apply for your job!

Job descriptions are one of the most underappreciated aspects of hiring. As a founder or hiring manager writing a job description, it’s often hard to put your requirements into words, especially in a way that doesn’t rule out great candidates. We’re going to go over some strategies and techniques for writing fantastic job descriptions that bring you the best candidates.

The problem

Job descriptions set expectations and provide a realistic picture of a role. This is the foundation for recruitment and hiring success - if the role matches the candidate's expectations or vision for their career, you can attract a candidate who has aligned expectations of the role from the start. On the other hand, a bad job description can deter qualified candidates or lead to hiring the wrong type of candidate.

Accidental or subconscious biases in a job description can significantly impact who feels encouraged to apply. In fact, research shows that masculine-coded language (e.g., using words like “dominant” or “competitive”) makes women feel like they wouldn’t belong, reducing the appeal of the role. In one experiment at UCLA, women shown job ads with masculine wording were far less interested in applying, while men were unaffected by feminine-coded wording. It’s crucial to look out for this unconscious language to attract a wide range of talent.

The format

It’s ideal for the job description to follow a clear and standard format that makes it generally easy for candidates to understand the role and visualize themselves in it:

• 📛 Job Title: It should be concise, precise, and reflect the role - no internal jargon or clever buzzwords. We don’t hire “code ninjas”, we hire software engineers. Common titles are not just more understandable, but perform better in job searches and avoid confusion.
  
• 📝 Summary: This should essentially be a few sentences on why this job matters, how it contributes to company goals - an elevator pitch on why you should apply.
  
• ✅ Key Responsibilities: A bulleted list of the role’s core responsibilities. Each bullet point should start with an action verb clearly stating what the person should do. Keep the list short enough that a candidate can scan through it quickly without being overwhelmed.
  
• 🎯 Qualifications: Any required skills, experience, and education needed to perform the job. It’s best to separate the “preferred” and “required” sections. Be cautious not to list an overly long list of requirements - this can discourage good candidates, especially women. Did you know that women tend to only apply if they meet all requirements, whereas men often apply when they meet 60%? (Mohr, 2014)
  
• 🎁 Benefits: What does the candidate get from joining the company? This might be tangible benefits like healthcare, 401(k), but also things like growth opportunities or using the best and latest equipment.
  
• 🌟 Company Culture: What is the company’s mission, culture, and values? Candidates want to know what the vibe of the company is and what the work environment is like. This can help a candidate visualize themselves at the company.
  
• 📍 Logistics: Clearly state practical details such as location, hybrid work expectations, visa sponsorship, and potentially salary range upfront. This saves both you and candidates time if there is something about the role that doesn’t fit with their expectations. It also saves you from having awkward conversations during screening.

The how

• ✍️ Simple, active language: Write clearly, concisely, and in the active voice. For example: “You will lead our platform team” rather than “the candidate will lead the software team.”
  
• 📋 Use bullet points: These make it easier to scan and ingest information quickly. If one bullet point starts with a verb, then all should in that section.
  
• 🚫 No jargon or unexplained acronyms: This is especially important with internal jargon or acronyms. You don’t want to scare off capable candidates who don’t understand the lingo.
  
• 🤝 Professional but encouraging tone: No overly stiff language but also hold back on too many exclamation points or emojis (I know I’m guilty of this!).
  
• 📐 Consistency in formatting: Make sure the formatting looks professional, with adequate white space, headings, and clear sectioning.
  
• ⚖️ Use gender-neutral terms: This might seem obvious, but any kind of gendered language within a job description will lead to the opposite gender feeling excluded.
  
• 🚻 Avoid gender-coded words: For example, words like aggressive, fearless, competitive, determined, decisive, or dominant are commonly seen as masculine-coded. For instance, instead of saying “We need a dominant leader to aggressively manage the team,” you could write “We need a strong leader to successfully manage and mentor the team.”
  
• 🎯 Emphasize skills, not personal attributes: By focusing on outcomes rather than attributes, you minimize the risk of stereotyping or introducing bias. For example, rather than “Seeking an aggressive salesperson who will relentlessly pursue leads,” phrase it as “Seeking a salesperson with a strong track record of meeting targets and persistence in pursuing leads.”
  
• 📊 Limit “Bulletproof” requirements: The more requirements you add, the more you favor candidates who are likely to apply even if they don’t meet them - and the more you scare off more humble candidates. Instead, consider a MoSCoW-type framework for requirements: must have, should have, could have, would have.

Complicated, huh?

Well, yeah! Writing a bad job description is easy - writing a good one is hard! In many ways, think of job descriptions like marketing material. Would you really just blast a piece of marketing material out in 20 minutes, with minimal review, and upload it straight to LinkedIn? No?

Then don’t do it for job descriptions! They are your top-of-funnel marketing material for bringing great candidates into your company.

Where Squirrel comes in

This is where Squirrel comes in! Our Job Description Creation Canvas allows you to draft job descriptions that match all of the things above in rapid time. No more cross-checking with this article every two minutes to make sure you’ve got everything; instead, work alongside our helpful recruitment agent to craft the perfect job description in no time at all!

At Squirrel, we believe it’s possible to find perfect candidates for roles; it’s just a matter of finding them at the right time with the right material. That’s why we care so much about job descriptions. There’s no point shooting yourself in the foot at the very first step in your hiring process!