Job Description Writing
Job Description Writing
Overview
A job description is a marketing document, a legal document, and a filter — at the same time. It must attract candidates the company wants, deter candidates who would be a poor fit, comply with US pay-transparency law in 15+ states, and avoid language that systematically suppresses applications from underrepresented groups.
Core Concepts
1. The structural skeleton: what you’ll do / what we look for / what we offer
- What you’ll do — Responsibilities. Day-to-day work. Outcomes the role owns.
- What we look for — Requirements split into must-haves (3-5 dealbreakers) and nice-to-haves.
- What we offer — Compensation range, benefits, growth path, working model.
2. Responsibilities vs requirements: keep them separated
Responsibilities describe what the person does. Verbs in the present tense: “Design and ship,” “Mentor,” “Own.”
Requirements describe what the person must already have. Adjectives and nouns: “5 years of,” “Experience with,” “Familiarity with.”
3. Must-haves vs nice-to-haves — and the application-gap evidence
Cap must-haves at 3-5. A must-have is a dealbreaker — if the candidate doesn’t have it, you won’t hire them.
The evidence: Women apply for jobs only when they meet ~56% of listed requirements vs men at ~52%. Long requirement lists deter applications from underrepresented groups more than from majority groups (Bohnet 2016).
Heuristic: If your must-haves list has more than 5 items, ask which two you’d drop. Then drop them.
4. Inclusive language: the gender-coded word audit
Textio’s research found that gender-coded language measurably skews who applies.
Masculine-coded words to avoid: aggressive, ambitious, analytical, assertive, challenge, competitive, confident, decisive, determined, dominant, driven, fearless, forceful, independent, ninja, outspoken, principled, rockstar, self-reliant, superior.
Action: Run the JD through a tool like Textio, Gender Decoder, or Datapeople. Aim for balance or feminine-leaning if the role is historically male-coded.
5. US state pay-transparency laws (as of 2026)
States requiring salary range disclosure (verify before posting):
- California (15+ employees) — required
- Colorado (all employers with 1+ CO employee) — required
- Illinois (15+ employees, effective Jan 2025) — required
- Massachusetts (25+ employees, effective Oct 2025) — required
- New York — required statewide
- Washington (15+ employees) — required + benefits description
Practical rule: If you post a JD that may be viewed from any of these jurisdictions, include a good-faith salary range.
6. Day-in-the-life sections
In your first 90 days, you'll:
- Week 1-2: Onboard with the team, shadow on-call, complete platform tour.
- Week 3-6: Ship your first small change end-to-end with a mentor.
- Week 7-12: Own a piece of the [X] subsystem; lead one design review.7. DEI-friendly criteria
Watch for:
- Age bias signals: “digital native,” “energetic,” “fast-paced young team.”
- Education bias: “degree from a top university” — replace with the actual skill.
- Cultural-fit signals: “must love startups,” “we’re a family.” These select for sameness.
Template: inclusive JD skeleton
[Role title] — [Team/Product] — [Location/Remote policy]
# About the role
[2-3 sentences: team, product, most concrete piece of work.]
# What you'll do
- [Verb + object, present tense. 5-8 bullets.]
# What we look for (must-have)
- [3-5 dealbreakers only.]
# Nice to have
- [Open-ended list. Use "familiar with," "exposure to," "bonus if."]
# A day in the life / Your first 90 days
- [Optional but high-value.]
# What we offer
- Compensation: $[low]–$[high] [base].
- Benefits: [Health, retirement, time-off summary.]
- Working model: [Remote/hybrid/on-site].Anti-Patterns
- Rockstar / ninja / guru / wizard / superstar / 10x. Gender-coded and exclusionary.
- The 20-item must-haves list. Cap at 3-5.
- “Competitive salary.” Non-compliant in 15+ states.
- “Digital native” / “energetic” / “fast-paced young team.” Age-coded.
- Years-of-experience inflation. “10+ years of React” — React is 13 years old.
Compliance Checklist (US, 2026)
- Salary range posted if applicants in CA, CO, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NY, VT, WA, or DC may apply.
- Benefits summary included (required in CO, WA).
- Equal-opportunity statement included.
- Reasonable-accommodation contact provided.