Most job descriptions are written for the company, not the candidate.

They're legal documents dressed up as recruiting tools. A wall of bullet points listing every skill, system, and responsibility the hiring committee could think of — approved by HR, reviewed by Legal, and read by almost no one.

Strong candidates see through them immediately. And the ones who don't self-select out after reading 400 words of requirements they'll never fully meet.

Here's the reframe that changes everything: a job description is a sales document. Its only job is to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. That's it.

The good news — because the bar is so low, a well-written job description is an immediate competitive advantage. Most of your competitors are posting the same wall of bullets they've been posting for a decade. Writing something human, specific, and honest makes you stand out before a single conversation has happened.

The Vault Insight: The best job descriptions don't list everything the role involves. They make the right candidate think — that sounds exactly like me.

Here's what separates a JD that works from one that doesn't:

→ Kill the unicorn. If your posting requires 8+ years of experience, a master's degree, six software platforms, and strategic AND executional expertise — at $75,000 — you've described someone who doesn't exist. Or if they do, they're not applying for that job. Every requirement you add beyond your true must-haves narrows your pool and signals organizational dysfunction to experienced candidates.

→ Keep it under 600 words. There is a direct relationship between the length of a job description and the quality of the applicant pool. Longer is not more thorough — it's more intimidating. Every sentence should earn its place.

→ Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves before you write a word. Most roles have 3–5 genuine must-haves. Everything else is a bonus. If you can't draw a direct line between a requirement and one of the core accountabilities from your seat definition, cut it.

→ Write it as a story. Candidates aren't just evaluating whether they can do the job — they're evaluating whether they want to. Answer four questions in order: Who are you as a company? What is this role here to do? Who will they work with? Why is this opportunity worth their attention right now?

→ Lead with the 20% that drives 80% of the value. Every role has two or three things the person absolutely must be exceptional at. Put those front and center. Make them impossible to miss. Everything else is secondary.

The candidates you want are reading your posting and making a fast decision about whether this company is worth their time. Most postings fail that test before the second paragraph.

Yours doesn't have to.

—Sean McGinnis, 2X President, 2X CMO, COO & EOS integrator