Great job description tips can mean the difference between attracting top candidates and getting ignored. We’re here to help with this list for crafting the best JDs.
Quick Summary
- Use a clear, specific job title candidates actually search for
- Open with a compelling summary of the role and its impact
- List responsibilities as bulleted, active-verb duties
- Split qualifications into essential and nice-to-have
- Include a salary range and real company perks
In this guide
What Is a Job Description?
A job description is a written summary of a role’s responsibilities, requirements, and reporting structure. It’s usually the first real signal a candidate gets about what the job actually is. A weak one costs you qualified applicants before they even click apply.
How do you find the perfect candidates for a role? The first step to finding great candidates is to have excellent job descriptions to attract and encourage top candidates to apply. We’re here to help with this list of job description tips for crafting the best JDs.
Let’s dive in!
Job Description Tips: Where to Start
Getting top talent for a job begins with a great job description. To help you start, here are some tips to ensure your JDs are near perfection:
Be consistent with section order
The order of your sections should always be the same. Chances are applicants will look at more than one job offer on your website, and ensuring your sections are in the same order helps with readability and project professionalism. For example, if you put your About Us section at the beginning of your JD, ensure it’s in the same place on your other JDs.
Choose one point of view (POV)
Another great job description tip is to choose your POV. You can use the first person (us, we), second person (you), or third person point of view for your JDs. It is essential to pick a POV and stick with it for all your JDs.Having different POVs in your JDs makes your company look sloppy, inconsistent, and unprofessional to your audience.
An excellent recommendation is to use the first or second point of view because it makes your JD sound more personal. The third POV, although you can use it, may make your JD seem cold and impersonal.
Be consistent with your boilerplate copy
The boilerplate sections of your job descriptions (You’re About Us, Benefits, Diversity Statement, Company Mission, etc.) should have an identical copy on all your JDs because it makes your company look polished and professional. A copywriter can write your ad copy, then get it approved by your legal or corporate department, and keep those sections fixed.
Keep your JDs short and simple
Less is more. Candidates aren’t reading your JD word for word but they’re scanning it. Every sentence that doesn’t help them decide whether to apply is a sentence working against you. Cut the filler, trim the corporate mission speak, and get to the point fast.
A good gut-check: if a line doesn’t describe the role, the requirements, or why someone should want the job, delete it.
Avoid Jargon
When you’ve worked in the same industry for a while, you may let jargon slip into your JDs. Research shows that 38% of job ads contain jargon. Jargon or “corporate speak” may confuse entry-level candidates or job seekers wanting to enter a new industry.
Make your job titles count
So candidates can find your JDs, it helps to create a simple yet searchable Job title. Here are some points you may want to consider:
- Choose a job title that ranks high when searched for in Google. For example, job titles like Marketing Coordinator and Marketing Analyst are searched more than Marketing Specialist, so choosing from the former two options makes sense. Software like Ongig Text Analyzer scores your job titles and helps you choose the best job title for your JD.
- Keep it short. Keep your job titles between 1 to 3 words, less than 20 syllables, and no more than 60 characters – longer job titles can get cut off on search engines.
- Keep it simple, and avoid getting too creative. For example, “Kickass Marketing Manager” or “Software Ninja” may sound fancy and fun, but they won’t help make your JDs searchable.
- Don’t use parentheses in your job title. Including a parenthesis in your job title makes it seem unclear and needs additional explanation.
- Avoid using levels or tiers in your job titles. There are a lot of job ads that include tiers –like the example below.
Unless the applicants know exactly your internal levels or tiers, it’s best to stick to the basics. In this case, Sales Apprentice is enough. This job description tip alone can be the difference between an applicant scrolling past your posting and clicking apply.
Include Salary
According to an Indeed survey, nearly one in four job seekers says compensation is the most important aspect of the job description. Most US job postings now include pay details. Currently, 16 US states have enacted pay transparency laws.
You don’t have to put the exact salary you’re offering in your job post. Salary range would do.
Flaunt your company perks
Being transparent about salary is a great way to attract candidates, but listing the perks and benefits your company offers, gives candidates that extra reason to work for your company. Benefits like paid vacation time, monthly incentives or a flexible work schedule can attract more candidates to apply.
Watch for Language That Shrinks Your Applicant Pool
Certain words in job descriptions quietly filter out qualified candidates before they apply, and in some cases create real legal exposure. The EEOC and state fair-employment laws prohibit postings that discriminate based on protected characteristics like age, disability, and sex.
Here’s language worth auditing:
- Age-related – “recent graduate,” “digital native,” “energetic” (age-discrimination risk under the ADEA)
- Disability-related – “must be able to walk/stand/lift” with no mention of reasonable accommodation (ADA risk)
- Gender-coded – “manpower,” “salesman,” “chairman” (measurably reduces female application rates)
- National origin – “native English speaker” and similar phrasing (national-origin discrimination risk)
You may filter out these words, but personal bias often gets in the way. Get help from partial and objective software like Ongig Text Analyzer. This software helps you highlight biases and suggests a more inclusive replacement.
Keep your key requirements short and specific
Did you know the average candidate only spends 14 seconds reading a JD before deciding to apply? Ensure the roles’ responsibilities and requirements are clear when they read it.
LinkedIn’s Gender Insights found that women apply to 20% fewer jobs than men and are 16% less likely to apply after viewing the same role.
Write for skills, not just credentials
Bachelor’s degree required.” It’s in thousands of JDs. But does your role actually need a degree? Or does it need someone who can do the work?
70% of employers now use skills-based hiring, up from 65% the year before, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey. The shift is real, and your JDs need to reflect it.
Here’s what that looks like in practice. Instead of listing credentials, list what the person will actually do and what they need to know to do it well. Swap “5 years of experience required” for the specific skills those 5 years were presumably building. Drop degree requirements unless the role is genuinely regulated or licensed.
Why does it matter? When U.S. companies evaluate candidates based on skills rather than titles or education, the talent pool grows nearly 19 times, according to LinkedIn. That’s not a small tweak but a bigger candidate pipeline from the same job post. LinkedIn reported that a skills-first approach to hiring leads to an average 9.4x increase in eligible workers across all jobs.
This job description tip is quickly becoming standard practice, not a nice-to-have.
Address AI-generated JDs (and their risks)
Most recruiting teams are using AI to write JDs now. That’s not a problem — unless the output goes live without a human review.
Here’s what goes wrong when it does:
- Hallucinated requirements. AI tools sometimes invent certifications, tools, or years of experience that don’t match the actual role. Candidates notice them. So do regulators.
- Inflated credentials. AI tends to default to “Bachelor’s degree required” even when your team would happily hire without one. That’s a bias problem — and it shrinks your talent pool.
- Generic language that sounds like every other JD. If your AI prompt is vague, you’ll get a vague JD. “Excellent communication skills required” isn’t a requirement — it’s filler.
The fix isn’t to stop using AI. It’s to audit what it produces.
Run every AI-generated JD through a bias checker (like Ongig’s Text Analyzer) before it goes live. Look specifically for requirements that weren’t in your original brief, gendered language the AI may have defaulted to, and credential bars that don’t reflect how your team actually hires.
One more thing: some companies are starting to disclose when job postings are AI-assisted. There’s no legal requirement to do this in most markets yet — but it’s worth knowing the conversation is happening
Personalize Your Equal Opportunity Statement
Most JDs close with the same boilerplate: “We’re an equal opportunity employer” language that traces back to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It’s legally sound, but it also blends into every other job post a candidate sees that day.
Write a custom version instead, one that reflects how your company actually operates, not just what the law requires. It still meets the same compliance bar, but it reads like it came from a real company instead of a legal template.
Don’t forget to spell and grammar check your JDs
When writing many JDs, it’s easy to let a few grammatical and spelling errors into your work. But with the help of editing software like Grammarly, having lousy grammar and spelling is now a thing of the past.
While checking your grammar and spelling, you should check your text for readability (or how well your audience understands your text) using the free software Hemingway. A good rule of thumb when writing for the general public is to aim for a readability score of 8 or below.
Write a compelling summary, not just a title
Your job title gets the click. The summary keeps them reading. In 2–3 sentences, cover what the team does, where this role fits, and who it reports to. Skip the mission statement. Save that for the About Us section.
Separate essential and desired qualifications
Bundling every requirement into one list makes even qualified candidates second-guess themselves. Split into “must-have” and “nice-to-have.” Candidates self-select out when everything reads as mandatory, even the qualifications you’d happily waive.
More Job Description Tips to Stand Out
In addition to being inclusive and having a great format, a JD also needs to be attractive to job seekers so they want to apply. Make your JDs more exciting and appealing to potential candidates with these tried and true tips:
Add a map
Adding a map (you can do so by leveraging Google’s Maps API) helps your candidates get a clear picture of where they’ll be working – whether the office is in the city or located on the outskirts of town. This super simple hack ensures you get more extended engagement and time on your JDs because your candidates don’t need to leave the page to find out where your office is on the map.
Be interactive
Nowadays, interactivity is a must on web pages, so why should your JDs differ? You can allow a candidate to communicate with you in many ways –Instant Messages (IM), Texts, Emails, or even a chatbot. You can also use LinkedIn’s API to communicate with your future candidates.
Embed video or pictures
Video is a very effective way of making your JDs more interesting. You can embed a video about your company, the job, the location, or anything else you think might be relevant to your advertised job.
If not video, consider adding photos or an infographic to your JDs. Images can be particularly effective to set your JDs apart from companies who don’t use them to get (and retain) the attention of your potential candidates.
Be transparent in your application process
Most of the time, each company’s application process appears shrouded in mystery to job seekers. Set your company apart by telling your candidates what happens during the hiring process.
Google does a great job with its application process. Their dedicated “How We Hire” page walks candidates through every stage, from submitting a resume to receiving an offer. It’s a simple move that reduces drop-off and builds trust before a single interview is scheduled. It even has an Interview Prep section that shares best practices, advice, and tips, helping candidates prepare to talk about themselves and the position.
Mention the job location
On-site. Hybrid. Fully remote. Three words that can be a dealbreaker for whether a candidate applies. 6 in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid arrangement, according to Gallup and less than 10% want to be fully on-site. Yet plenty of job posts still say nothing about work location at all. That’s a fast way to lose candidates who’ve already decided flexibility is non-negotiable.
Don’t make people guess. If it’s hybrid, say how many days in the office and which ones are flexible. If it’s on-site, say why. Context helps. If it’s fully remote, say whether there are time zone requirements or occasional travel expectations.
Many candidates drop out of interviews if a company’s flexibility policy is vague or missing. A vague “flexible working options available” isn’t a selling point. It’s a red flag.
Include testimonials from your employees
There’s nothing more authentic than hearing about working for your company directly from the people who already work there. Make a video, or have your employees write about their experience working with your company and include it on your company’s job website.
Job Description Tips for Automating Your Workflow
When you’re writing a lot of JDs and working with a team, it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed.
Fortunately, a lot of software can help automate some parts of your JDs. This helps keep each job posting professional, polished, bias-free, and exciting. Here are some job description tips to help automate your JDs.
Use templates
You should use templates if you’re writing a large amount of JDs per month. Templates make sure your JDs are consistent, plus they’re easy to store and find.
If you use Microsoft Word, check out 10+ Free Job Description Templates for Word to get started.
Prefer Google Docs? Here are 3 Free Job Description Templates for Google Docs.
Use job description builder tools
Use job description software that helps you write effective and inclusive JDs, speed up your writing process, and create reusable templates for your team. Here are a few to get you started:
- Ongig Text Analyzer. This job description tool helps you create inclusive job ads and acts as a repository so your team can easily access approved JDs. It scans your JDs for bias, complex words, missing sections, templatizes JDs, and more.
- Jobsoid Job Description Generator. Jobsoid has a FREE job description generator with over 1000+ templates for you to use for you to create an outstanding job description. Each template provides you with an overview, general duties, and job requirements.
- Workable’s Free Job Description Generator – offers 1000+ job descriptions templates. Just need to type the Job Title, choose the Industry and Tone (optional). You can edit your job descriptions on the fly, including line-by-line AI iterations.
FAQs on Job Description
1. Why are job descriptions important?
They’re often the first interaction a candidate has with your company. A clear JD signals you’re organized and worth applying to. A messy one signals the opposite.
2. How often should I update job descriptions?
Review them every time you repost a role, and audit evergreen JDs at least once a year. Titles, salary ranges, and required skills shift faster than most teams update their templates.
3. Do I have to write inclusive job descriptions?
You don’t have to, but you should. Biased language quietly shrinks your applicant pool. Run every JD through a bias-checking tool before it goes live.
4. Are job descriptions required by law?
Not usually, but what’s in them can carry legal weight. Some states require salary ranges by law, and vague duties can create liability if a role changes significantly after hire.
Why I wrote this:
Ongig aims to help you and your team put these job description tips into practice, so you can create great and inclusive JDs to attract outstanding and diverse candidates
My sources:
- Skills First Reimagining the Labor Market and Breaking Down Barriers (by LinkedIn)
- Survey: How to Improve Your Job Postings to Attract Better Candidates (by Indeed)
- 2026 Pay Transparency Laws by State (by Paycor)
- Gender Insights Report (by LinkedIn)
- Job Outlook 2026 (by NACE)
- Skills First: Reimagining the Labor Market and Breaking Down Barriers (by LinkedIn)
- Indicators: Hybrid Work (by Gallup)
