Your Job Description Is Scaring Off the Right People

Let's play a quick game. Read this and guess the role:

"We're looking for a rockstar ninja who thrives in a fast-paced environment, wears many hats and is passionate about disruption. Must have 5+ years' experience in a tool that launched three years ago."

Could be marketing. Could be engineering. Could be a circus.

That's the problem. And be honest, you've seen one like it this week.

Your JD is a filter, whether you like it or not

Most teams write the job description last, fast and under pressure. Copy last year's version. Borrow a competitor's. Add the new must-haves. Publish.

But the JD does a lot of quiet work. It decides who opts in, who opts out and what your screening will judge later. A vague JD doesn't just attract the wrong people. It convinces the right people that the role isn't for them.

The five classics

1. The wishlist. 22 requirements, all "required." Strong, honest candidates assume they don't qualify. Everyone else applies anyway.
2. The vibe check. "Rockstar." "Self-starter." "Thrives in chaos." Says a lot about the mood. Nothing about the work.
3. The mystery role. Three paragraphs about the company's mission. One line about what the person will actually do.
4. The unicorn. Senior strategist, hands-on designer, part-time data analyst, available across four time zones. One salary.
5. The copy-paste. Written for a different team, two reorganisations ago.

If you recognised one of yours, don't worry. Everyone has written at least two.

Start with the problem, not the title

Here's a shift that helps: before picking a title, write down the problem you need solved.

"We need a product manager" is a title.

"Our engineers keep building features customers don't use, and nobody owns the roadmap" is a problem.

The second sentence tells you far more. It points to the skills, the seniority and even whether you need a full product manager at all. Sometimes the problem reveals you need a different role from the one you were about to post.

What a good JD actually contains

Keep it structured and specific:

• The problem this person will solve, in plain words.
• What they'll own in the first 90 days.
• Must-have skills, kept short. Five or fewer is a good rule.
• Nice-to-haves, clearly labelled as nice.
• How they'll work: hours, time zones, sync or async, who they report to.
• What evidence of those skills looks like.

That last one matters more than people think. If you can describe what proof of a skill looks like, you'll recognise it when you see it.

Job description example: before and after

Here's what the difference looks like for a product manager role.

Before:

"We're looking for a passionate, results-driven Product Manager to join our fast-growing team. You'll wear many hats and work cross-functionally to drive product success. 5+ years' experience required."

After:

"Our engineers ship quickly, but features often miss what customers need, and nobody owns the roadmap. We're hiring a Product Manager to fix that. In your first 90 days, you'll set up a clear roadmap, run regular customer interviews and agree priorities with engineering and design. You'll need experience owning a roadmap, running customer research and writing specs engineers can build from. This role is remote, with at least four hours of overlap with West Africa Time."

Same role. The first tells you almost nothing. The second tells the right candidate exactly why they'd be good at it.

Job description template you can copy

Fill in the brackets and you have a solid first draft:

• Role title: [The plainest accurate title]
• The problem: [What isn't working today that this person will fix?]
• First 90 days: [Two to four concrete outcomes]
• Must-have skills: [Five or fewer]
• Nice-to-have skills: [Clearly marked as optional]
• How we work: [Hours, time zones, sync or async, who they report to]
• What good evidence looks like: [Examples of work that would show these skills]
• Pay and engagement: [Range, and contractor or employee]

Writing a job description for a remote role

Remote roles need a few extra lines that office roles can skip:

• Overlap hours. How many hours a day must they share with the team, and in which time zone?
• Location limits. Can they work from anywhere, or only from certain countries? Say so upfront.
• Communication style. Is the team mostly async with written updates, or on regular calls?
• Equipment. Do you provide a laptop, or an allowance?
• Payment. Currency and engagement type, so nobody is surprised at offer stage.

Leaving these out doesn't make the role more appealing. It just moves the awkward questions to later.

Where AI helps (and where you still matter)

Writing a clear JD from scratch takes time, which is exactly why teams copy-paste.

AI can help here. Describe the problem, what the person will own and your must-haves, and a good AI assistant can turn that into a structured first draft in minutes.

And here's the bonus. On Growwr, your brief is what the AI matches against verified talent profiles. Vague in, vague out. Specific in, and the shortlist gets noticeably sharper.

One honest rule: always review what any AI drafts. You know your team, your budget and your non-negotiables. Treat AI as a fast first draft, not the final word.

A 5-minute JD audit

Before you publish, check:

• Could a stranger tell what this person does on a normal Tuesday?
• Are there more than five must-haves?
• Is there any word you'd struggle to define, like "rockstar"?
• Have you stated working hours and location expectations?
• If you were great at this job, would you apply?

Frequently asked questions

How long should a job description be?

Long enough to explain what the job is, what success looks like and how the person will work. Cut the company history before you cut the role details.

What should a job description include?

The problem the role solves, outcomes for the first 90 days, a short list of must-have skills, nice-to-haves, working arrangements, and pay and engagement details where you can share them.

Should I include a salary range?

Where you can, yes. It saves both sides time and helps the right people decide quickly. Check what's required or expected in your market.

Can I use AI to write a job description?

Yes, as a first draft. Give it the problem, the outcomes and your must-haves, then edit for accuracy and tone. Don't publish anything you haven't checked.

The bottom line

A job description isn't admin. It's the brief for everything that follows: who you attract, who you match and who you interview.

Write it like you mean it, and the right people will recognise themselves in it.

Got your brief ready? Describe the role on Growwr and get matched with verified talent who fit it. Start hiring on Growwr