To write a job description that works, describe the job before the company: what the person will actually do, what success looks like after a few months, the three to five skills they truly need, the pay range, and how you'll assess them. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves, drop the buzzwords, and keep it short enough to read on a phone. The people you want are busy; a clear job description is the first sign that your team is a good place to work.
Below is how to write a job description step by step, a template, a before-and-after rewrite, and a checklist to run before you publish.
Why most job descriptions don't work
Most job descriptions are written by copying the last one and adding to it. The result is a wish list that puts off good candidates and attracts people who are good at applying:
- Inflated requirements. "5+ years' experience" and "degree required" are often stand-ins for skills nobody wrote down. They screen out people who could do the job and screen in people who've simply been around long enough. Our own count of live job posts found very few roles marked as entry-level at all (the entry-level gap), so inflated requirements make that gap even worse.
- Buzzwords instead of work. "Rockstar", "ninja", "fast-paced environment", "wear many hats" — they tell candidates nothing, and some are a warning sign. (More corporate buzzwords, translated.)
- No pay. Candidates skip ads without a range, and in a growing number of places leaving it out isn't legal.
- No idea how you'll hire. People can't prepare, so you end up comparing who interviews well rather than who can do the work.
The template
| Section | What goes in it | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Job title | The title people actually search for — "Customer Support Specialist", not "Customer Happiness Hero". | 2–5 words |
| Summary | Two sentences: what this person does and why it matters to the team. | 2 sentences |
| What you'll do | 4–6 bullets of real tasks, plus what success looks like after three months. | 5–8 bullets |
| What you'll need | 3–5 must-haves, written as things the person can do. | 3–5 bullets |
| Nice to have | 2–3 things that would help but won't rule anyone out. | 2–3 bullets |
| Pay and practicalities | Salary range, location or remote, hours, contract type, start date. | 4–6 lines |
| How we'll hire | The steps, any task, and how long it takes. | 3–5 lines |
| About us | A short, honest paragraph about the team — not the company's history. | 3–4 sentences |
Aim for about 400–700 words. If it's longer, something in it is filler.
How to write a job description, step by step
1. Start with outcomes, not duties
Before you write a word, finish this sentence: "Six months from now, this hire was a great decision because they…" The answer — "cut our response time to under a day", "launched the new onboarding emails", "took the monthly reporting off the founder's plate" — is the heart of the job description. Everything else supports it.
2. Use the title people search for
Candidates search for plain titles. Creative titles look fun internally but disappear in job searches. If your internal title is unusual, put the standard one in the ad: "Customer Support Specialist (we call it Customer Champion)".
3. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves
For every requirement, ask: "Would I reject an otherwise excellent candidate who didn't have this?" If the answer is no, it's a nice-to-have. Most job descriptions have two or three genuine must-haves hiding inside a list of twelve.
4. Write skills, not years
"3+ years in customer support" tells you very little. Write what the person must be able to do:
| Instead of… | Write… |
|---|---|
| "5+ years of SQL experience" | "Can write SQL queries that join several tables and explain the results to non-technical colleagues." |
| "Degree in marketing required" | "Has planned and run a campaign and can show what it achieved." |
| "Excellent communication skills" | "Writes clear, friendly replies to frustrated customers." |
| "Proficient in Microsoft Office" | "Comfortable building spreadsheets with formulas and filters." |
A skill written this way can be tested — which makes the hiring process fairer and much easier.
5. Only ask for a degree if the job truly needs one
Some roles do (regulated professions, for example). Many don't. A degree requirement on a job that doesn't need one shrinks your applicant pool for no benefit.
6. Include the pay range
Several US states — including California, Colorado, Washington and New York — require salary ranges in job ads, and EU countries are bringing in pay-transparency rules under a 2023 directive. Even where it isn't required, a range saves everyone time: people who can't accept it won't apply, and people who can will take you more seriously.
7. Check your wording
- Gendered language: a 2011 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Gaucher, Friesen and Kay) found that job ads using more masculine-coded words — "competitive", "dominant", "ambitious" — were less appealing to women. Use neutral words that describe the work.
- "Native speaker" excludes fluent people unnecessarily (and can be discriminatory). Write "fluent in English" instead.
- Physical requirements: only include them if the job really involves them ("lifts boxes up to 15 kg", not "must be able to stand").
8. Say how you'll hire
Tell candidates the steps: "a 15-minute call, a 45-minute task you can do at home, and a final interview with the team. We aim to decide within two weeks." People prepare better, drop out less, and the best ones — who often have several options — can plan around you.
9. Keep it scannable
Short paragraphs, bullets, no walls of text. Many candidates will read it on a phone between other things.
10. Ask someone who does the job to read it
They'll spot the requirement nobody actually uses, and the task you forgot that takes up half their week.
Before and after: a customer support role
Before:
We are a fast-paced, dynamic company looking for a rockstar Customer Success Ninja to join our growing family! The ideal candidate is a passionate self-starter with 5+ years of experience, a bachelor's degree, excellent communication skills and the ability to wear many hats. Competitive salary.
After:
Customer Support Specialist — remote (UK time zones), £26,000–£30,000
You'll be the first person our customers talk to when something goes wrong with their order. You'll answer about 50 chats and emails a day, solve most of them yourself, and pass the tricky ones to our product team with clear notes.
In your first three months you'll: learn our product and help desk, handle chats on your own from week two, and rewrite five of our most-used reply templates.
You'll need to: write clear, friendly replies to frustrated customers · stay organised when many conversations are open at once · be available 9:00–17:30 UK time.
Nice to have: experience with Zendesk or a similar help desk · a second language.
How we'll hire: a short application with two questions, a 30-minute written task (answering three real customer messages), then a video call with the team. We decide within ten working days.
Same job. The second version tells the right person, in under a minute, whether they want it and whether they can do it.
Checklist before you publish
- The title is one people actually search for.
- The first two sentences say what the job is.
- There's a "first three months" or "success looks like" line.
- Must-haves are 3–5 things the person can do, not years or degrees.
- Nice-to-haves are labelled as optional.
- The pay range is included.
- Location, remote options, hours and contract type are clear.
- The hiring steps and timeline are listed.
- No buzzwords ("rockstar", "ninja", "fast-paced", "family").
- Someone who does the job has read it.
Turn your must-haves into your hiring process
A job description written as skills gives you your assessment for free: each must-have becomes one question or one short task.
- Hard requirements (working hours, location, right to work): ask a simple yes/no question in the application.
- Skills (writing replies, building a spreadsheet, a piece of code): ask for a short, realistic task — the kind of thing they'd do in their first week, not a weekend project.
- First read: review the work before the CV, and hide names for the first pass so you're judging the work, not the background.
That's how Provitude works: you post the job for free, add requirement questions and a short skills task, and read applicants' work with names hidden in the first review. Post a job and see the difference in who applies.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a job description be?
About 400–700 words. Long enough to describe the work, pay and process; short enough to read on a phone in a couple of minutes.
Should I include the salary in the job description?
Yes. In several US states and, increasingly, in EU countries it's a legal requirement, and everywhere it saves time for you and for candidates.
What's the difference between a job description and a job posting?
A job description is the internal definition of the role — duties, skills, reporting lines. A job posting is the advert built from it, written to attract candidates. Today most teams use one document for both, which is why it pays to write it for candidates.
Should I list years of experience?
Prefer skills. If you really need a level of experience, explain what it stands for — "you've managed a small team before" says more than "7+ years".