Job Description

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The Job Description Problem Nobody Talks About

The Run

Why This Matters More Than You Think

Most business owners treat the job description as a checkbox — something to write quickly before posting a role. But what goes into that document has a direct effect on who shows up to interview, how long they stay, and how much it costs you when they don’t.

The problem isn’t usually that owners don’t care. It’s that the job description gets written by the wrong people, with the wrong inputs, in a hurry — and then it stays that way for years.

Define the Problem

A job description has two jobs: attract the right candidates and set accurate expectations for what the role involves. Most fail at both — often at the same time.

The most common failure is inaccuracy. The description lists what someone imagines the role should require, rather than what a person will actually spend their time doing. Certifications get added because they sound serious. Tasks get included because they might come up someday. Requirements borrowed from a similar posting get pasted in unchanged. The result is a document that no longer describes the actual job.

This creates two separate problems. The first shows up at the top of the funnel: an inflated requirements list puts off qualified candidates before they apply. Descriptions with 20 or more listed requirements consistently reduce application rates — particularly among people who don’t tick every box but would be good at the job.

The second problem shows up after the hire. When the role doesn’t match what the candidate was told to expect, they leave. A Jobvite survey found that around 30% of new hires exit within the first 90 days, with expectation mismatch cited as the cause 43% of the time. A separate survey of 1,500 workers found that nearly half who quit within three months pointed to a disconnect between the actual role and what was described when they applied.

I’ve seen this play out repeatedly. People arrive and find they’ve taken a job that bears little resemblance to what they applied for. They don’t leave because they can’t do the work — they leave because it wasn’t what they were led to expect. And from what I’ve observed, much of what ends up in a typical job description doesn’t reflect what someone will actually spend their days doing. The real job is often a fraction of what’s on the page.

The financial cost adds up fast. Replacing a single employee costs between 50% and 200% of that person’s annual salary, according to Gallup and SHRM. For a small business, one early exit can mean tens of thousands of dollars in recruiting, training, and lost productivity — before the next hire even starts.

A third problem is structural: the wrong people are often writing the description. HR departments understand compliance and format, but they may have limited visibility into what the role actually requires day to day. When the line manager — or the person already doing the job — isn’t part of the process, the description reflects what HR thinks the role looks like. That’s not always the same thing.

Benefits and Best Practices

An accurate job description narrows the gap between who applies and who stays. It acts as a pre-screening tool: candidates who read an honest description self-select more accurately, which means fewer wasted interviews and more people who are genuinely suited to the role.

People who hire well apply a few consistent principles.

Lead with what the person will actually do. Responsibilities should reflect the real daily work, not an aspirational version of the role or a copy of the previous posting. If a task only comes up occasionally, omit it or label it clearly as secondary.

Separate what’s required from what’s preferred. A shorter list of genuine requirements attracts more qualified applicants than a long list of everything that would be nice to have. A useful distinction: what the person needs on day one, versus what can be developed in the role.

Bring in the person closest to the work. The line manager, or a team member in the same role, should be involved in drafting or reviewing the description. HR provides structure and compliance knowledge. The subject matter expert provides accuracy. Both are needed; neither alone is enough.

Keep the description proportionate. A shorter, clearer description consistently outperforms a longer one in both application quality and candidate fit. People make quick decisions about whether to apply. A description that buries the essential role inside a long requirements list loses them before they finish reading.

Review before each posting. Roles evolve. A description written two years ago for a position that has since changed will attract the wrong people. The review doesn’t need to be long — it just needs to happen.

Challenges

Getting the right people involved. Line managers are busy. The person doing the job is rarely consulted. HR ends up writing in isolation, or lightly revising whatever was used last time. Even a short conversation — 20 minutes with the right person — can dramatically improve accuracy.

Resisting the wish list. Every hiring manager has a mental picture of the ideal candidate. That picture tends to be comprehensive. The challenge is leaving out everything the ideal person might bring and describing only what the role actually requires.

Keeping descriptions current. Roles shift, but descriptions often don’t. A description written when someone was hired two years ago may no longer reflect what the role has become — especially in positions that have taken on new responsibilities over time.

Balancing completeness and clarity. Some roles genuinely involve a wide range of work. The challenge is representing that without producing a document that discourages good candidates from applying.

How AI Can Help

AI is useful at the drafting and trimming stage. Given clear inputs about what the role actually involves, AI can produce a well-structured first draft quickly. It can also flag language that may put off candidates, suggest plain-language replacements for jargon, and help identify where a requirements list has grown out of proportion.

Where AI falls short is equally important to understand. These tools are trained on existing job descriptions — many of which have exactly the problems described above. Ask AI to write a description without specific inputs, and it will likely produce something generic that mirrors the worst of what already exists: inflated requirements, vague responsibilities, borrowed language that doesn’t describe your role.

The approach that works is to use AI second, not first. The person closest to the role answers a set of structured questions about what the job actually involves. That input is then handed to AI to shape into a clear, readable description. A prompt along these lines gives the AI what it needs:

“I am hiring for [role title]. The person will primarily be responsible for [list the two or three core responsibilities]. They will report to [title]. In a typical week, they will spend most of their time on [describe the actual daily work]. The minimum qualifications needed are [genuine requirements only]. Based on this, write a concise job description that is clear, accurate, and does not add requirements or tasks that were not listed above.”

The draft that comes back should be reviewed by HR for compliance, and by the line manager for accuracy, before it goes to a job board.

AI should not be left to decide what the role requires. It cannot know what the job involves, who the team is, or what the working conditions look like. Those things have to come from inside the business.

Key Takeaways

  • A description that overstates requirements or misrepresents the role creates two problems at once: it deters qualified applicants and sets up new hires to leave.
  • The people who know the role best — the line manager and the team — need to be part of writing the description, not just HR.
  • A shorter, more accurate description consistently performs better than a comprehensive one.
  • AI is a useful drafting tool, but only when it receives accurate inputs first. The human work comes before the prompt, not after.
  • Review the description before each posting. If the role has changed, the description needs to change with it.

Build a job description that reflects the actual role

What This Exercise Helps You Do

This exercise produces a complete, postable job description built from accurate inputs about what the role genuinely involves. The AI draws out the real responsibilities, requirements, and expectations through structured questions — and if you have an existing description, it checks that against what you tell it and flags anything that no longer applies or overstates what the role requires.

Copy the complete prompt below into a new AI conversation and send it as your message. Do not upload it as an attachment without also telling the AI to run it.

What to Have Available

Having the following information available will make the exercise easier:

  • The job title and who the role reports to
  • A description of what the person will actually do in a typical week
  • Any existing job description for this role
  • The minimum qualifications genuinely needed before the person starts
  • What the person will be expected to achieve in the first three to six months
  • The main working conditions — hours, location, physical requirements if any
  • Any salary range or compensation structure, especially where local law requires it

If you are starting from nothing and don’t yet have answers to all of these, the AI will work through them with you.

Copy-and-Paste AI Prompt

Job description builder


Use the buttons above or click inside the box to select and copy the prompt.

Review Before Using the Result

  • The line manager has read the posted version and confirmed it reflects the role as it currently exists — not as it was when last hired for.
  • Every listed requirement passes the governing test: it is something the person will regularly need or do, not something occasional or aspirational.
  • An employment lawyer or HR compliance specialist has reviewed the description before posting, particularly if the role has physical requirements, salary disclosure obligations, or credential requirements.
  • All square-bracket placeholders have been resolved — nothing has been left blank or assumed.
  • The salary range is present where local law requires it.
  • The description has been read from a candidate’s point of view: is it clear what the job actually is?

Once It’s Working

Common Mistakes

Copying a previous description without reviewing it. This is how outdated requirements survive for years. A role that has evolved gets advertised as it was, not as it is. Before each posting, someone who knows the current role should read the description and mark anything that no longer applies.

Writing for HR, not for candidates. Descriptions built around internal compliance categories — qualifications, duties, reporting lines — often fail to give a candidate a clear picture of what they’d actually be doing. A candidate reads a description to decide whether to apply. Write it with that reader in mind.

Listing desired skills as required ones. This is the most common way descriptions become inflated. Everything the ideal candidate might have ends up listed as a requirement. Anything not genuinely needed on day one should come off the list.

Skipping the line manager’s review of the final version. Even when the line manager provided input early in the process, the final description often goes out without them seeing it. They should read the version that will be posted and confirm it accurately describes the role they are hiring for.

Leaving out what success looks like. A description that lists responsibilities without indicating what good performance means leaves candidates guessing. A plain statement of what the person will be expected to achieve in the first few months gives serious candidates a reason to apply and gives you something concrete to discuss in the interview.

Delegation Notes

Doing it yourself: If you are the hiring manager and the person this role reports to, you are the subject matter expert. You don’t need to write the whole description — use AI with the prompt above — but you do need to supply the inputs. Block 20 minutes before you start to answer: what will this person actually do in a typical week, what do they genuinely need before day one, and what does success look like after three months.

Handing it to a staff member: The person who drafts the description and the person who approves it should not be the same. Give whoever is writing it the real responsibilities and honest requirements in writing before they start. What to keep hold of: the final decision on what goes in and the sign-off before posting. What to check when it comes back: does it describe the job this person will actually do, or a version that sounds more impressive?

Outsourcing it: Recruiters and HR consultants can write descriptions well, but only with good inputs. Give them the same information you would give AI: core responsibilities, genuine requirements, what a successful hire will be doing after a few months, and who they report to. Don’t assume an outside party knows what the role involves. When the draft comes back, the line manager reviews it — not just the person who commissioned it.

Regulatory and Legal Considerations

Job descriptions carry legal weight, and in some areas the requirements are specific.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act — enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — requires employers to identify the essential functions of a role. A description that lists requirements beyond what the job genuinely needs creates exposure, because applicants can only be screened against essential functions. The EEOC reviews job descriptions as part of discrimination investigations.

Pay transparency laws require salary ranges in job postings in a growing number of US states and localities. Requirements vary by jurisdiction. Where a range is legally required, omitting it can result in penalties.

Language choices can also create exposure under equal opportunity law. Requirements that have a disproportionate effect on a protected group — unnecessary degree requirements, for example — can attract scrutiny even when no discrimination was intended.

An employment lawyer should review job descriptions where physical requirements, salary transparency obligations, credential requirements, or protected class considerations apply. This review should not be skipped to save time.

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