How to write a job post people actually finish reading
Most job posts are written for a legal file. Here is a structure that respects the person reading it.
Dawit Bekele
MellaWork editorial
A job post has one job: help the right person decide whether to apply. Everything else is secondary.
Lead with the work
Open with what the person will do, not a paragraph about your founding story. Two sentences are enough to explain why the role exists and what changes if it goes well.
Be specific about the first six months
“Own the onboarding flow and reduce time-to-first-value” is useful. “Work in a fast-paced environment” is not. Give the reader something they can picture.
Separate requirements from nice-to-haves
If a requirement is not genuinely required, move it. Long lists of technologies discourage people who would be strong at the job but have not used one framework yet.
Make the practical bits easy to find
- Salary range and currency
- Location and workplace type
- Contract length or employment type
- Application deadline
- Who to contact
Edit once more
Read the post aloud. Remove the adjectives. Keep the facts, the responsibilities and the one sentence that makes someone want to know more.
Hiring, simplified