[Role title] at [Company]
Replace everything in [brackets]. Leave out anything you cannot state truthfully: an unstated salary is better than a vague one, and a missing perk is better than an invented one.
01At a glance
What a candidate sees on the listing card. The summary is one plain sentence under 140 characters.
- Role: [Title]
- Engagement: [Employee / Contractor / Part-time / Intern]
- Location: [City, or remote within which time zones]
- Pay: [Range and currency, or delete this line]
- Summary: [One sentence: what this person will build or run, and for whom]
02About [Company] and why this role exists
What the company does, what stage it is at, and what problem this hire solves. Two short paragraphs.
[Company] builds [product] for [customer]. We are [stage: pre-launch, first customers, growing].
We are hiring because [the specific gap: work nobody owns, a product that needs building, a load the team cannot carry].
03What you will do in your first months
Concrete outcomes, not a list of responsibilities. What will exist or be better because this person joined?
- In your first [month], you will [concrete outcome].
- By [month three], you will [concrete outcome].
- Ongoing, you will [the recurring work of the role].
04What you need to have done
Three to five must-haves. Each is something a person has either done or not done, never a personality trait. Only list what you will actually check.
- [Shipped / ran / built something specific, at a specific scale]
- [Worked with a specific tool, system or domain]
- [A second concrete experience]
05Nice to have
Things that help but would not stop you hiring someone. Keep it short, because long lists put good people off applying.
- [Experience that would help]
- [Second nice-to-have]
06How you will work
The practical terms. Candidates decide on these as much as on the work.
- Engagement: [Type, hours per week, contract length if fixed]
- Location and hours: [Where, and the hours of overlap you need]
- Reports to: [Name and role]
- Works with: [Who they will work with day to day]
07Pay
State the real range. If you will not, delete this section. Never write "competitive".
- Pay: [Range, currency, per year / month / hour]
- Equity: [Only if offered, with the terms]
- Benefits: [Only the ones that exist]
08How to apply
Every step, and how long the whole process takes. Candidates with options choose the process they can see the end of.
- Apply at: [Link to the application form]
- Process: [Application] → [call with whom] → [work sample or technical conversation] → [offer]
- Timeline: [How long from application to decision]
09Screening questions
Three to five questions for the application form, answerable in a few sentences by someone who has done this work. Ask about a specific system, decision or trade-off. Never ask about age, nationality, family, health or salary history.
- [A question about a specific decision or trade-off in this work] (two or three sentences is plenty)
- [A question about something they built, shipped or ran]
- [A question about how they would approach a real situation in this role]
- Optional: [A question a good applicant might have nothing to say about]
10Before you publish
Check each line. A posting that promises something untrue is a problem you discover in an interview.
- Every must-have is something you will actually check
- Pay is stated, or the section is removed
- No team size, funding, perk or benefit is claimed that is not true
- Every screening question is about the work, not the person