Start at the End: Who Are You Actually Hiring?

You’ve made it this far so before you write a single word, ask yourself “What does the best person for this role look like”.

It sounds obvious, but it isn’t. 

Too many job descriptions read like a hiring manager’s Frankenstein wish list, a mix of corporate buzzwords and unrealistic expectations that scare off top talent or unintentionally invite the unqualified.

Common Job Description Mistakes and How to Correct Them

We know you want to throw everything you hope for into a job description, but an unrealistic (and too long) list of requirements may end up filtering out top candidates.

Here are several examples of poorly written job description details, driven by wishlist overload:

• “Must have 7+ years of experience in a fast-paced SaaS environment.”
• “Proven experience in product marketing, growth marketing, and demand generation.”
• “Strong analytical, creative, and strategic thinking skills.”
• “Expert in SEO, content marketing, and paid advertising.”
• “Ability to code is a plus.”
• “Experience with HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, and Webflow preferred.”

Here are several examples of more clearly articulated must-have and nice-to-have job description details:

• Must-have: 3+ years in B2B SaaS product marketing with a proven track record of successful go-to-market strategies.
• Must-have: The ability to develop compelling positioning and messaging for a competitive tech market.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with demand generation and paid media strategies.
• Nice-to-have: Familiarity with SEO and content marketing best practices.

Hiring for High-Turnover Roles vs. Specialized Roles

Different strokes for different folks. As such, a high employee turnover customer service role will require a vastly different job description than a specialized Hardware Embedded Engineer Role.

For higher turnover roles, focus on clarity and realistic expectations.

• Pay and Benefits: Don’t hide it. Candidates need to know if the role meets their expectations.
• Workload and Schedule: If it’s shift-based, indicate the expected shift schedule. If overtime is common, mention it.
• Work Environment: Is it remote? Hybrid? In-office? This is a critical factor for most people.
• Soft Skills vs. Niche Expertise: What makes a person thrive in this role? Do they need premium communication skills or the ability to think quickly? Do they need to thrive under pressure? Let them know what they’re up against.

Here’s an example of this: “This role is ideal for someone who enjoys fast-paced customer interactions, can handle a high volume of calls, and thrives in a structured environment. Shifts vary, and weekend availability is required.”

For specialized roles, focus on precision and depth of expertise.

• Be clear on the specific required skills. Instead of saying, “You must be strategic with hardware security,” say, “You will work with nationally recognized hardware security experts employing a range of microelectronics test equipment, custom software, and computing resources to provide exceptional support to our customers.”
• Highlight the impact of the role: Let potential applicants know how they will contribute to your organization’s success.
• Expect a more discerning audience: Quality candidates with specialized skill sets will often scrutinize your job description more carefully so you can’t afford any typos or errors.

Now that we’ve defined the who, let’s move on to the how, starting with what we at Spark Hire refer to as “mini-gates” in the screening process.

Inserting Mini-Gates: A Simple Way To Filter Applicants Without Adding Too Much Friction

A mini-gate is a simple, clear requirement or instruction that acts as a subtle filter very early in the candidate screening process. 

If candidates ignore it, they either didn’t read the description carefully or aren’t truly interested. 

Some examples of mini-gates include:

1. Application Step: “In your cover letter, please include one campaign you successfully led and the results it achieved.”
2. Hard Requirements in the First Line of Your Job Description: “This role requires at least three years of experience in SaaS product marketing.”
3. Industry-Specific Language: Applicants likely aren’t a good job fit if they don’t understand a basic industry term in your job description.

Don’t overdo it. If you add too many gates, too early, you might add too much friction back into the screening process, thus scaring away great candidates who just missed a detail or have to re-read your description multiple times.

Always refer back to simple and clear language.

Mini-Gate One: A Well-Written Job Title 

A well-written job title is the very first gate your candidates will pass through, or bounce off of. It can determine whether a job shows up in search results and someone clicks through it to read more or if you’ll scare away savvy, qualified candidates and attract the wrong crowd. 

So what makes a well-written job title?

• They’re search-friendly: Think about what you’d search for if you were looking for a job. Most candidates don’t type “Marketing Guru” or “Product Marketing Ninja” into LinkedIn. They look up “B2B Marketing Lead” or “Product Marketing Manager”.
• They’re specific: Broad titles like “Marketing Manager” are too vague, are all-encompassing and don’t tell potential applicants what exactly they’ll be doing. A job title like “B2B Growth Marketing Manager” is clear yet descriptive.
• They include disqualifiers, where relevant: “Senior” or “Entry-Level” in the title will immediately filter out candidates who don’t match the experience level.

So what shouldn’t you do? You shouldn’t add buzzwords and fluff. Here are some examples:

• “Marketing Ninja: Not a real skill, you can’t quantify that. Unless you are in fact hiring a ninja who also has marketing skills.
• Rockstar Sales Associate: Sounds gimmicky and more like a compliment than a job title.
• Unicorn Product Marketing Manager: What does that even mean? Yes, we have seen this out there.

Unless you’re Apple, who coined the term “Genius” in the early 2000s, you want to stick to familiar, universally recognized terms.

Job seekers are not searching for creative titles. When they do come up, these types of poorly written titles make candidates question the professionalism of the role or your company.

Pro Tip: Before posting, search your job title on Linkedin, Indeed, or whatever your preferred job board. If similar roles don’t exist, your title might be too quirky or unclear to attract the person you’re looking for.

Mini-Gate Two: Your First Three Lines Should Pass or Bounce Candidates in Five Seconds

When a candidate clicks on your job posting, you want them to do one of two things: keep reading or filter out through self-disqualification.

You do this by avoiding generic openings like, “We’re a fast-growing HR tech company looking for a passionate individual to join our dynamic team”. 

Here’s why this doesn’t work:

• “Fast-growing”: Every start-up is fast-growing.
• “Passionate individual”: Passionate about what exactly?
• “Dynamic team”: This is too generic, offering very little in the way of describing your team.

Here’s an example of what you should aim for in the first one or two lines of your job description: “If you have 5+ years of B2B Product Marketing experience and love working on Go-To-Market and positioning strategies within the HR tech industry, this role is for you”. 

Here’s why this works:

• It sets a clear requirement: “5+ years of experience in B2B product marketing”
• It speaks to specific skills: “Go-To-Market and Positioning Strategies”
• It provides candidates the chance to self-reflect: If they don’t have B2B experience, they’re less likely to apply.

Pro Tip: As you begin writing your opening lines, pause to put yourself in the shoes of a candidate who has the right experience for the role. Do those first few lines make you want to keep reading? If your answer is no, then go back to the drawing board.

Mini-Gate Three: The Roles and Responsibilities

Once your candidates successfully get through those two mini-gates, they’ll scan the role responsibilities to see if the job aligns with what they want to do. 

Gate three might be the simplest to implement, but it’s just as important to get right. Your goal is to make the responsibilities crystal clear, including what their day-to-day will look like, without overwhelming them with one of those Frankenstein wish lists we already spoke about.

Think, the 5-7 bullet rule.

Candidates don’t want or more importantly, don’t need to see a 20-point list of everything they might ever do. That’s overwhelming and is better left for onboarding. 

Keep it concise and draft only 5-7 key responsibilities that focus on the core functions of the job. 

In the same way, hiring teams want candidates to fill out resumes and answer interview questions in the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for clarity, candidates want clarity as well.

Here’s an example of a poorly written wish list of tasks for a Product Marketing Manager role:

• “Will be responsible for marketing initiatives”: This is just too vague and could mean anything from running social media campaigns to writing blog posts.
• “Develop strategies for growth”: What are the strategies for growth? Does this include Facebook ads or maybe product-led growth?
• “Support product launches”:  This statement gives no ownership, especially for Senior Product Marketing Managers. Supporting product launches sounds more like they’ll be sitting on the sidelines.

Now, here are a few examples of a clearly articulated and engaging role responsibilites:

• “Own the go-to-market strategy for new product launches in our Recruit product line.”
• “Develop compelling messaging and positioning based on customer research and competitive analysis.”
• “Collaborate with the sales team to create sales enablement materials that drive conversions.”
• “Analyze and optimize campaign performance, using data-driven insights to refine strategies.”
• “Work cross-functionally with product, sales, and customer success to align marketing efforts with business goals.”

Here’s why this structure works:

• They’re action-oriented: Use and preferably start with strong verbs such as own, develop, collaborate, or analyze.
• They’re clear and specific: Rather than “support product launches” using points like “own the go-to-market strategy for….” casts a clearer vision of what to expect.
• They’re realistic: Always paint a true picture of what the job will entail.

Pro-Tip: After writing each bullet point, ask yourself, “If I had this job, would this explain what my day looks like?” and “Does each responsibility have a clear outcome and explanation of its ownership?”

Mini-Gate Four: Honest Salary and Benefits

By now, you’ve learned enough to filter in the right candidates and filter or bounce out the wrong ones, but this final gate can make or break the application process!

Simply put, hiding salary or benefits expectations wastes everyone’s time including yours.

According to SHRM, 4 in 10 candidates will lose interest in a job posting that doesn’t include a salary range and Google now prioritizes job postings that include salary information.

What if you can’t post the salary? Then, at least give a realistic range and include perks that matter. Matching 401Ks and offering health insurance are industry-standards, but do you offer:

• A four-day workweek
• Unlimited paid-time-off
• Career development programs

Clearly articulate the benefits of working with your organization. It’s important to most candidates and will filter out those that would otherwise drop-off later in the process because these details are not in alignment.

Finish with a Strong Call-to-Action

By this point, your candidates should know whether or not they’re qualified and if they want the role so you should remove any friction to applying from here on out.

Here’s how and why to end with a strong call-to-action: You want to ensure your candidates know exactly what to do next.

For example: “In your cover letter, tell us about a recent GTM strategy you led or co-led, what impact it made, and what you learned from it” or simply “Apply here, no cover letter needed”. Either is fine, but you need something to indicate what comes next.

This is the, “I can do that” step for your candidates.

Make Small Tweaks for a Big Impact on Your Screening Process

A well-crafted job description doesn’t just attract applicants, it’s a magnet for the right ones. 

By making these small but strategic improvements, you’ll spend less time sorting through unqualified resumes and more time engaging with not only top talent, but those candidates who actually want to be there.

Start by tweaking or adding two to three things from this list today, and be sure to measure and optimize your job descriptions as you go. Happy writing!

Interested in learning more or have questions about something listed above? Contact us to learn how Spark Hire can help take your job descriptions and posting, and screening and selection process to new heights!