A good job description focuses on what the person will actually do in the first 90 days, uses plain and inclusive language, and clearly separates required skills from preferred ones. At MJL Recruiting & Consulting we treat the job description as a candidate's first impression of your company, not administrative paperwork.
A job description isn't administrative paperwork. It's the first impression a candidate forms of your company, often before they've had a single conversation with anyone on your team, and most job descriptions fail that test before they ever generate an application.
How many required skills should a job description list?
Only the essentials. If a job description has fifteen bullet points of required skills, it's not attracting talent. It's scaring qualified people away before they hit "apply."
Top-performing job descriptions focus on the essential skills the role actually needs, not an exhaustive wish list built from every nice-to-have anyone on the team has ever thought of. The test worth applying is simple: what will this person actually do in their first 90 days, and what do they need to know to do it well? Everything outside that scope belongs in a "nice to have" category, not the required list.
What reading level should a job description be written at?
Job descriptions should be written at roughly an 8th-10th grade reading level. That's not a knock on the candidates reading them. It's a recognition that clarity attracts confidence, while complexity creates doubt about whether the role, or the company, is what it appears to be.
Write for a human, not a compliance document. Smart writing isn't the same as corporate writing. Smart writing is easy to understand, direct, and inclusive by default. A useful test: read every requirement and ask "would I actually say this out loud in conversation?" If the answer is no, it needs to be simplified before it goes live.
Should job descriptions use words like "rockstar" or "ninja"?
No. Job descriptions aren't marketing slogans, and treating them like one backfires. Leading with "rockstar," "ninja," or "wizard" doesn't signal culture. It signals that the role hasn't been thought through carefully enough to describe in plain terms.
Lead with purpose, impact, and real expectations instead. Clarity is what attracts commitment from serious candidates; cleverness mostly attracts people who didn't read past the headline.
How do you make a job description more inclusive?
A few checks worth running on every posting:
- Avoid gendered terms ("strong salesman" becomes "strong communicator").
- Use people-first labels throughout.
- Replace internal jargon with everyday language.
- Drop phrases like "native English speaker" or "recent graduate." Both exclude qualified candidates for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability to do the job.
Inclusive language isn't a trend or a compliance checkbox. It's a genuine hiring advantage, because it widens the pool of strong candidates who feel like the role was actually written for someone like them.
What's the difference between required and preferred qualifications?
This is the distinction that matters most. Required qualifications are true must-haves; preferred qualifications are nice-to-haves. Good job descriptions clearly separate the two.
When everything gets listed as "required," the practical effect is losing candidates who could do the job well but don't check every single box. Those candidates self-select out before ever applying, which means you never even see them.
A quick exercise worth running on your next posting: take three bullet points currently listed under "required" and honestly ask whether they're truly non-negotiable. Moving even a few of them to "preferred" measurably expands the pool of people willing to apply.
Frequently asked questions about writing job descriptions
How many requirements should a job description have? MJL Recruiting & Consulting recommends listing only the essential skills the person needs to do the job in the first 90 days. Everything else belongs under "nice to have," because fifteen required bullet points scare qualified people away.
What reading level should a job description use? MJL Recruiting & Consulting recommends roughly an 8th-10th grade reading level. Clear, direct writing attracts confident candidates, while complex corporate language creates doubt about the role and the company.
What words should you avoid in a job description? MJL Recruiting & Consulting recommends avoiding buzzwords like "rockstar," "ninja," and "wizard," gendered terms like "salesman," internal jargon, and phrases like "native English speaker" or "recent graduate." These either confuse candidates or exclude qualified people.
Should every qualification be listed as required? No. MJL Recruiting & Consulting finds that listing everything as required causes qualified candidates to self-select out before applying. Moving even a few items to "preferred" measurably expands the applicant pool.
Job descriptions that attract the right candidates, instead of scaring off good ones or drowning in the wrong applicants, are one of the most common gaps we help companies fix. See how MJL Recruiting & Consulting approaches job description development →