How to Write Job Descriptions

3What the July 2026 Labor Data Shows

4.8 million hires happened in July 2026, alongside 2.9 million quits, per the same BLS survey. That much movement means candidates are actively comparing your posting against several others in the same week, not reading it in isolation. A posting that under-explains the role loses that side-by-side comparison by default.

At the same time, 1.6 million layoffs and discharges were recorded in July 2026, sending experienced people back into the market. Many of them are overqualified for junior listings and, on paper, underqualified for senior ones because their old title doesn't map cleanly. A generic posting can't sort that out; a specific one filters it correctly on the first read.

4Start With the Must-Haves, Not the Wish List

Most postings I score mix true requirements with a wish list, and candidates can't tell which is which. That ambiguity costs you people who would have been strong hires but self-selected out. Split the two lists before you publish anything.

• List only true requirements: if someone without it could still do the job in month one, it belongs under preferred, not required.
• Cap hard requirements at five or six: longer lists filter out qualified candidates who assume they need every line to apply.
• Separate must-have from nice-to-have with a heading: a second list does more filtering work than a footnote.
• Name the actual tool or system: "spreadsheet software" filters differently than "Excel, including pivot tables."

6Put Salary and Location Up Front

Listings that hide salary and location get fewer qualified applicants, not more, because serious candidates skip the guesswork entirely. Post a real range, even a wide one, and say plainly whether the role is remote, hybrid, or on-site. Candidates read this line before anything else on the page.

This is also the first thing job seekers check against their own baseline before reading further. If a listing skips it, most treat that as a signal, not an oversight.

7The Structure That Converts Views Into Applications

Order matters as much as content. Candidates read the top third of a posting and decide whether to keep going, so put the information that filters people in first, not last.

• Title and one-line summary: the searchable title plus what the role actually does in a sentence.
• Salary and location: the two facts most candidates check before reading further.
• What you'll do: five to seven concrete responsibilities, not a paragraph of mission language.
• What you need: the must-have list from earlier, capped at five or six lines.
• What success looks like: one or two sentences on what a good first quarter looks like.
• How to apply: the actual next step, not a generic "submit your resume."

9Why Clear Postings Work Both Ways

A clearer posting works both directions. Hiring managers get fewer irrelevant applications and more candidates who already know they're qualified. Applicants spend less time chasing roles that were never a real match.

That's the same problem ShouldApply was built to solve from the applicant's side: score a listing against your resume with Should I Apply before you spend hours tailoring for a role that was a mismatch from the first line. If you write postings too, use the same clarity standard you'd want to see on the other side. Sign up free to keep a running list of the listings worth pursuing.