Writing Job Descriptions

Writing Job Descriptions

Help the user write effective job descriptions using frameworks and insights from 6 product leaders.

How to Help

When the user asks for help with job descriptions:

1. Define success first - Ask what success looks like 12 months after the hire, not what tasks they'll do 2. Identify the spike - Determine the one or two areas where this person needs to excel (not everything) 3. Write for progress - Frame the role around the progress to be made, not a list of arbitrary tasks 4. Consider the signal - Discuss whether the language attracts or repels the right candidates

Core Principles

Start with 12-month success

Jonathan Lowenhar: "Start with, it's 12 months later, you hired the person, 12 months have gone by, you're clinking champagne because of how great it's been. What's changed about the business?" Define success by business impact after one year, not a list of responsibilities.

Job descriptions are made up

Bob Moesta: "Job descriptions are made up. They're literally just made up - a list of stuff the manager wants plus stuff they don't want to do." Focus on the 'progress' the role enables rather than arbitrary feature requirements.

Identify where they should spike

Lauren Ipsen: "Trying to determine where this person should major and minor, where they should spike. Is this someone that's going to lean into design efforts or operate like a very senior PM?" Define specific competencies required rather than seeking a generalist who does everything.

Frame requirements as outcomes

Bob Moesta: "Don't tell me I need Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills. Tell me what I'm going to do with those. Tell me you're going to need to build PowerPoints for executive alignment." Replace 'X years of experience' with specific capabilities that time is supposed to represent.

Iterate based on candidates

Jason Shah: "Taking a product mindset where I meet people and don't know exactly what role they're going to fill. A product mindset on hiring and iterating on it based on the candidates you're meeting." Treat job descriptions as iterative documents that evolve with market reality.

Use polarizing language intentionally

Anton Osika: "Long hours, high pace, candidates must thrive under high urgency. Those seeking comfortable work need not apply." High-signal, polarizing language filters for candidates who thrive in specific environments.

Codify emerging roles

Peter Deng: "I asked her to write up a job description of what this thing is. There's something magical here. The role was model designer." Ask high-performing individuals to write their own ideal job description to identify new functional needs.

Questions to Help Users

• "If this hire is wildly successful, what will be different about the business in 12 months?"
• "What is the one thing this person absolutely must be great at?"
• "What are you describing as requirements that are actually just proxies for something else?"
• "Who do you want to attract with this language, and who do you want to filter out?"
• "Is this role solving a specific problem, or is it a collection of tasks no one wants?"
• "What would 'making progress' look like for this person in their first 6 months?"

Common Mistakes to Flag

• Lists of tasks instead of outcomes - Focus on what will be different because of this hire, not what they'll do daily
• Requiring generalists - Identify specific spikes; trying to find someone good at everything finds no one
• 'Years of experience' as a proxy - This tells candidates nothing about what they'll actually need to do
• Static descriptions - Iterate on the role definition after meeting candidates and understanding the market
• Bland language - Generic job postings attract generic candidates; be specific and even polarizing

Deep Dive

For all 9 insights from 6 guests, see references/guest-insights.md

Related Skills

• Conducting Interviews
• Evaluating Candidates
• Onboarding New Hires
• Building Team Culture

Writing Job Descriptions - All Guest Insights

6 guests, 9 mentions

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Anton Osika

Anton Osika

"Long hours, high pace, candidates must thrive under a high urgency under AGI timelines approaching, difficult mission ahead, honor and recognition in case of success, those seeking comfortable work need not apply."

Insight: Use high-signal, polarizing language in job descriptions to filter for candidates who thrive in high-intensity environments.

Tactical advice:

• Use polarizing language to filter for specific mindsets
• Be transparent about the intensity and urgency of the role

Timestamp: 00:45:07

Bob Moesta

Bob Moesta 2.0

"Job descriptions are made up. They're literally just made up. And there are a list of stuff that the manager will say, all right, we want them to do this. And then they'll think of all the stuff they don't want to do and they put that in there. And so the reality is if you actually start to look at it and say like, hey, I can do these 15 things, but there's these five things that will literally take all my energy. Is there any way we can think about where I get more of the stuff I can do versus the stuff that I really suck at?"

Insight: Standard job descriptions are often arbitrary lists of tasks rather than reflections of the progress the role needs to achieve.

Tactical advice:

• Design roles to fit the specific energy drivers of high-potential candidates rather than forcing candidates into rigid descriptions.
• Focus on the 'progress' the role enables rather than just a list of required features or skills.

Timestamp: 00:27:35

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"Job descriptions should really be, here's the context we're in. Here's what this role is about. Here's what progress means in this role and here's how we will actually reward you for actually doing this work."

Insight: An effective job description defines the situational context and the definition of success (progress) for the hire.

Tactical advice:

• Clearly state the context of the company and the specific problem the role is meant to solve.
• Define what 'making progress' looks like in the first 6-12 months.

Timestamp: 00:34:32

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"Look at the way you've written the job description, look at the way you've wrote the requirements and be more specific. It's like, yeah, you need to know Excel, PowerPoint and word, why? What do you do with it? Tell me what I'm going to do with those. Don't tell me I need the skills in that. Tell me you're going to need to be able to build PowerPoints and do things around this."

Insight: Requirements should be framed as outcomes and experiences rather than static skills or years of experience.

Tactical advice:

• Replace 'X years of experience' with the specific capabilities or experiences that time is supposed to represent.
• Describe the actual work outputs (e.g., 'building PowerPoints for executive alignment') instead of just listing software names.

Timestamp: 01:09:43

Jason Shah

Jason Shah

"I think taking a product mindset where I meet people all the time now where I don't really know exactly what role they're necessarily going to fill... and looking at a product that we can mold flexibly and think of the same way... I think a product mindset on hiring and iterating on it based on the candidates you're meeting, the needs of the business."

Insight: Job descriptions should be treated as iterative documents that evolve based on the talent available in the market and changing business needs.

Tactical advice:

• Iterate on the role definition after meeting candidates rather than sticking to a static description.
• Focus on the 'product' of the role—what the person will actually do—rather than just checking boxes.

Timestamp: 01:02:41

Jonathan Lowenhar

Jonathan Lowenhar

"Start with, it's 12 months later, you hired the person, they started today, 12 months have gone by, you're clinking champagne because of how great it's been. What's changed about the business? What does success look like 12 months later? Document it."

Insight: Define a role by its expected outcomes and business impact after one year rather than a list of responsibilities.

Tactical advice:

• Document exactly what success looks like 12 months after the hire.
• Focus on how the business will have changed because of this person's work.
• Use these success criteria to screen for candidates who have already achieved similar results.

Timestamp: 00:51:18

Lauren Ipsen

Lauren Ipsen

"I think it's trying to determine where this person should major and minor, where they should spike. Is this someone that's going to really lean into the design efforts? Is it someone that actually kind of needs to just operate like a very senior PM and continue to build out a team? Is this someone that really should be focused on product vision for the long haul?"

Insight: Define the specific 'spikes' or core competencies required for the role rather than looking for a generalist who does everything.

Tactical advice:

• Determine if the role majors in design, vision, or execution.
• Work backwards from the specific outcome you want the hire to solve.

Timestamp: 00:13:48

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"A lot of startups at this point are almost allergic to C titles or VP titles or are just more title agnostic than I've seen in the past, so you see a lot more of these head ofs... start as a head of product, and then as the company continues to grow, you lean into the growth side of things more, and so you become that head of growth or an SVP of growth."

Insight: Early-stage startups should use 'Head of' titles to maintain flexibility and avoid the need for future demotions as the company scales.

Tactical advice:

• Use 'Head of Product' for early senior hires to allow for future layering if a more experienced CPO is needed later.

Timestamp: 00:19:39

Peter Deng

Peter Deng

"I was like, 'Hey, can you just write up a job description of what is this thing? Because there's something magical here, but I don't fully understand it.'... The role was model designer... it was just a really interesting way that she framed it."

Insight: Use job descriptions to codify new, high-impact roles that emerge from a unique combination of individual strengths.

Tactical advice:

• Ask high-performing individuals to write their own 'ideal' job description to identify new functional needs
• Codify roles that bridge technical depth and product taste (e.g., Model Designer)

Timestamp: 01:20:56