The Definitive Guide to Job Descriptions

As a manager, your role hinges on your ability to hire and retain strong talent. Attracting high-quality talent starts with a well-crafted job description. What you choose to say, how you say it, and what you choose to omit can either captivate or detract the right candidate from applying.

Job descriptions aren't just about listing duties; they're the first impression your team makes on potential candidates and can be a linchpin for attractive top-tier talent. Job descriptions outline expectations, yes, but more importantly, they set the stage for success. As a new manager, you wield the power to shape your team and its culture, and mastering the intricacies of job descriptions is your first step.

Join us as we dive into the best practices for creating job descriptions that captivate top talent and lay the groundwork for a thriving and collaborative work environment.

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What To Include

‍[Pre-Work] Developing your Candidate Profile

Before writing your job description, you should sit down with your team and craft a candidate profile. This exercise is similar to crafting a customer profile or persona, and will help you tailor the job description to that profile. As you enter the process of writing your job description, always reference your profile and make sure that the language, structure and format of your job description will resonate with your persona.

Here’s an example of how you might create a candidate profile:

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[Pre-Work] Accurate Title

Choosing a title for the role precedes writing the job description, but is crucial to getting the job description in front of the right audience. Avoid vague language and be thoughtful about proper leveling.

For example, “Ninja Salesperson” and “Senior Account Executive” may be titles for the same role. The former is vague, uses fluffy language that may imply gender bias, and sends confusing signals for leveling. The latter is clear and direct about the nature and level of the role. The latter will also perform better in search. Don’t worry, though, you’ll have plenty of other opportunities to lean into fun language to showcase your company’s culture throughout the job description.

Location

Similar to role title, you want to be clear and direct with your expectations of where your candidate can be based. You’ll want to complement your clarity with language that shows candidates why you have chosen your policies and what expectations or benefits might change depending on where they decide to live.

For example:

• Remote, but must work Eastern Time: “At Example Inc., we value flexibility. The role is remote, so you can live and work anywhere in the world. To foster collaboration, we expect candidates to work Eastern Time, wherever they are based.”
• Hybrid, in the New York office two days a week: “At Example Inc., we see value in flexibility that still fosters strong workplace relationships. The role is hybrid with an expectation to be in-person in the New York office any two days a week. Complimentary lunch is provided in the office five days a week.”
• In person, five days a week: “At Example Inc., we see value in working collaboratively in person. The role is in person five days a week in our beautiful San Francisco office. Complimentary lunch is provided in the office five days a week.”

About Your Company

Some candidates may be well-acquainted with your company; others may be learning about it for the first time reading through your job description. This section serves as a crucial opportunity to offer insights into what you do, why you do it, and why your customers love you.

• Product or Service: what you provide your customers (hyperlink to products if possible)

Candidates should be able to clearly explain your product or service to a friend after reading this

• Mission and Values: why your company exists and a few values you hold

You can be explicit in stating your mission / values or you can weave language that showcases your mission and values throughout the section

• Customer Value Props: why do your customers love you

Candidates should clearly understand the value your customers get from your product(s) or service(s)

• Accomplishments: what you’ve achieved

Use this opportunity to showcase recent press, fundraising accomplishments, key customer milestones, market positioning or anything else that will show candidates that you’re well-positioned for success

Here’s an example from the team at AirOps:

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‍About Your Team

Candidates join teams, not companies. Team can be broken down into a few components: 1. The Hiring Manager, 2. The Team, 3. The Company, and 4. Leadership. The right candidate will want to learn about each of these and gain confidence the ability for the entire team to execute successfully towards the broader mission.

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1. The Hiring Manager: If possible, the job description should be clear about who the candidate will be reporting to. You should share professionally relevant things like your role, how long you’ve been at the company, and your past experience. You should also share personally relevant things like where you’re based and what you like to do for fun. Your goal is to build credibility in your role and showcase your personality. You can share your Candor profile.

Example: “You’ll report to Susan Johnson, our Director of Growth. Susan brought her extensive FinTech experience from Amex to Example Inc. two years ago and has been instrumental in launching new products on this team. Susan is based in Portland and loves to ride horses and hang out with her golden retriever Luke”

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2. The Smaller Team: You should share how large the team is, how the team fits into the broader company and plans for team growth. You can showcase this through a Candor Team Space.

Example: “You’ll be the newest addition to our 10-person Growth team. The team is responsible for launching new products and getting them in front of customers. We collaborate closely with the sales and product teams. We’ve doubled our team’s headcount in the last year and have plans for continued growth.”

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3. The Broader Team: You should share how large the company is and plans for company growth.

Example: “We are a fast-growing company 250 strong. We’re investing in hiring to attract top talent across all company functions”

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4. Leadership: You should share highlights for key founders or executives.

Example: “Rocket was founded by Silicon Valley product leader Eric Smith (CEO; prev at Google, LinkedIn) and Rachel Weiss (COO; prev at Uber).”

If possible, include team or individual photos and/or hyperlinks to LinkedIn or Candor profiles, which helps humanize the team.

Here’s an example of how you might show some basic information about key players on the team in a personal way:

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The Role

• Why You’re Hiring Now: Share information on why you’re hiring for this role now. This will help candidates understand why this role is so critical for business success.
  Example: “We’re launching new products at an accelerating pace this quarter and are looking for an analytical growth owner to leverage data to help us form and execute our launch strategy”

• What They’ll Own: Clearly showcase the work they’ll be doing in this role. Be as specific as possible. Make sure to use action verbs, parallel language, and bullet points for optimal clarity. You may also want to include examples of projects they might work on, if relevant.
  Example:• Systematically identify and test into lead generation channels• Create and help drive strategic planning for growth strategy

• Who They Are: Clearly showcase your expectations of their experience and skillset. Feel free to break this section down into “must haves” and “bonus.”
  Example:• 4+ years of direct growth, growth product, or adjacent experience• Track record testing into and scaling new channels

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Benefits

You may have alluded to benefits throughout the job description, by talking about workplace flexibility and team culture. In this section, you have an opportunity to expand on that. You’ll want to be expansive with your definition of benefits and showcase all of the valuable elements of working at your company. Include some of the following example benefits, as relevant:

• Health Insurance – example: medical, dental and vision including coverage for dependents
• Equity – example: generous equity package
• Team Bonding – examples: quarterly US-based offsites, biweekly virtual happy hours,
• 401k – example: 401k with company match
• PTO – examples: unlimited PTO, 20 days PTO
• Stipends – examples: wellness, home office setup, learning & development
• Leave – examples: parental leave, sick leave
• Relocation support – example: generous relocation support for moving expenses and travel
• Workplace flexibility – examples: remote, hybrid
• Equipment – examples: laptop, phone

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‍Compensation

If your company culture is transparent, making compensation ranges clear is one of the best ways to “put your money where your mouth is”. It demonstrates your respect for the candidate’s time, which speaks volumes about your company’s hiring process. Most candidates (61%) say that details about pay and benefits are what matter most. Always keep in mind that each state has different laws with respect to compensation transparency with job descriptions and applications.

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‍Call to Action (CTA)

Don’t forget to share instructions for applying! Make it clear where candidates should apply and any relevant deadlines they should keep in mind. If you offer external referral bonuses, don’t be afraid to include that in this section as well. Perhaps the role isn’t a fit for them, but it may be a fit for a friend or colleague. You may choose to provide any special instructions for the application.

D&I Statement

You may want to include a diversity and inclusion statement towards the end of your job description. While it’s ok to take inspiration from boiler plate language, make sure to tailor your statement to your company and talk about why D&I is important to you.

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Formatting

Length

Candidates who are actively recruiting are reading through dozens, perhaps hundreds of job descriptions everyday. Their attention span is limited, so you’ll want to be concise, while including as much information as is relevant.

Indeed ran a study where jobs with descriptions between 700 and 2,000 words performed the best. A similar study on LinkedIn showed that job descriptions under 300 words performed the best.

What’s right for your company will depend on the role and candidate profile you’re targeting. That said, over 50% of candidates now view job descriptions on mobile devices, so try to keep your description on the shorter side.

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Structure & Sections

With shorter attention spans in mind, make sure your job description is easy to skim. That means including section headers, leveraging bullet points, and utilizing bolding and underlining where appropriate. This doesn’t mean that your job description should feel stale. You can get creative with section headers like “You’ll be successful here if…” and adjust the order of sections as relevant for the role. You can also get creative with adding additional sections like “what sets us apart”, “our tech stack” or “our recruiting process” depending on the role and what you’re hoping to showcase.

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Language

The language you use throughout your job description – from the role title, to the section headers to the way you describe your company and the role – is critical to attracting the right candidate. You should:

• Use “you” instead of “the candidate” – this will help your candidate envision themselves in the role
• Use parallel language whenever you use bullet points – this will help the candidate skim without missing information
• Use action verbs – this will help the candidate envision what they’ll actually do in the role
• Avoid jargon – this will alienate candidates who may not be familiar with certain industry-specific language
• Avoid harsh or exclusive language – using words like “requirements” instead of “preferred qualifications” may alienate candidates that could be a great fit for the role

Starting the Hiring Process

Once you've nailed down your job description, it's time to start looking for the right candidate. Make sure you're thoughtful about curating your questions to your target candidate and incorporating your culture in the interview process. Starting to plan for onboarding while you're interviewing candidates is a great way to stay ahead of the curve. Getting the job description right is the critical first step in successful team growth, but other pieces of the puzzle like interviewing and onboarding are just as important.