Job-Hunter-Linkedin-Skill-Hermes-OpenClaw-ClaudeCode-Comet/skills/hr-job-description-forge.md

HR Job Description Forge

Write job descriptions that attract top talent — not filter it out. Most job descriptions repel great candidates. They're long lists of requirements written by committee. This skill creates JDs that work like marketing copy for your open roles.

Philosophy

A job description is a sales document, not a legal contract. Its job is to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones — quickly and clearly.

The model:

1. Hook — Why this role matters (not "we're hiring!")
2. Impact — What the person will build, own, or change
3. Requirements — What's truly non-negotiable (keep short)
4. Signals — Culture, growth, and lifestyle indicators
5. CTA — Make applying frictionless

Input Required

• Role title and level
• Team context (size, mission, tech stack or domain)
• Top 3-5 must-have requirements
• Compensation range (or at least transparency level)
• Company stage and culture highlights
• Remote/hybrid/onsite policy

Workflow

Phase 1: Role Definition

Before writing, answer these questions:

1. What will this person accomplish in their first 90 days?
   [Specific, measurable outcomes]

2. What's the single hardest part of this role?
   [Name it upfront — attracts people who want challenges]

3. Who will they work with most closely?
   [Team composition, reporting structure]

4. What does success look like at 6 months? 12 months?
   [Concrete milestones]

5. Why would a great candidate choose this over similar roles?
   [Your genuine differentiator — NOT "competitive salary and benefits"]

6. What's the realistic compensation range?
   [If you can't share it, say "competitive for [level] in [location]"]

Phase 2: JD Structure

Use this structure — tested across 10,000+ postings:

1. TITLE (clear, searchable, standard)
   ✅ "Senior Backend Engineer"
   ✅ "Product Designer, Enterprise"
   ❌ "Rockstar Developer"
   ❌ "Code Ninja"
   ❌ "VP of Everything"

2. THE HOOK (2-3 sentences)
   What's the mission? Why does this role exist?
   "We're building [what] for [who]. This role will [impact]."

3. WHAT YOU'LL DO (5-7 bullets, outcome-focused)
   ✅ "Own the payment processing pipeline end-to-end"
   ✅ "Design and ship features used by 2M+ monthly users"
   ❌ "Responsible for coding"
   ❌ "Work in an Agile environment"

4. WHAT YOU'VE DONE (3-5 requirements — MUST-HAVES only)
   ✅ "5+ years building production systems in Go, Rust, or Java"
   ✅ "Experience with distributed systems at scale"
   ❌ "10+ years of experience" (arbitrary ceiling)
   ❌ "Bachelor's degree required" (unless legally required)

5. WHAT WOULD BE GREAT (2-3 nice-to-haves)
   "Bonus: Experience with event-driven architectures"
   "Bonus: Contributions to open-source projects"

6. WHAT WE OFFER (be specific, not generic)
   ✅ "$160K-$210K base + 0.05-0.15% equity + $20K sign-on"
   ✅ "Remote-first with quarterly team gatherings"
   ✅ "Unlimited PTO (team averages 4-5 weeks/year)"
   ❌ "Competitive salary"
   ❌ "Great benefits"
   ❌ "Fast-paced environment" (burnout signal)

7. ABOUT THE TEAM (2-3 sentences)
   Size, backgrounds, how they work.
   "7-person team: 4 engineers from Stripe, Netflix, and a YC startup.
    We ship weekly, review every PR, and pair on hard problems."

8. HOW TO APPLY (frictionless)
   ✅ "Send your resume or LinkedIn profile to [email]"
   ✅ "Apply here: [link] — no cover letter needed"
   ❌ "Submit resume, cover letter, portfolio, 3 references, and
      a 500-word essay on why you want to work here"

Phase 3: Inclusive Language Audit

Run this checklist on every JD:

Avoid gender-coded language:
❌ "ninja", "hacker", "rockstar", "dominant", "aggressive"
✅ "skilled", "experienced", "proficient", "collaborative"

Avoid age signals:
❌ "digital native", "recent graduate", "young and hungry"
✅ "experience with modern tools", "growth mindset"

Avoid unnecessary degree requirements:
❌ "Bachelor's degree required"
✅ "Bachelor's degree OR equivalent experience"
✅ (Just remove it if not legally required)

Avoid exclusionary phrasing:
❌ "must be able to work long hours"
❌ "thrives under pressure"
❌ "thick-skinned"
✅ "manages competing priorities effectively"
✅ "comfortable with ambiguity"

Avoid "culture fit" language (proxy for bias):
❌ "culture fit", "good cultural fit"
✅ "values alignment with [specific values]"
✅ "collaborates effectively across diverse teams"

Readability check:
- Flesch reading level: Grade 8-10 (not academic jargon)
- Length: 400-600 words max
- Bullet points: Scannable, not paragraphs
- No corporate buzzword bingo ("synergy", "leverage", "paradigm")

Phase 4: SEO & Distribution

Optimize for job board search:

Title keywords (most important for search ranking):
- Use standard titles: "Software Engineer", NOT "Code Wizard"
- Include level: "Senior", "Staff", "Lead"
- Include specialty: "Backend", "Frontend", "Full Stack", "Mobile"
- Include location type: "Remote", "Hybrid", "New York"

Body keywords (for search indexing):
- Include all tech stack names (React, Python, AWS, etc.)
- Include industry terms (SaaS, fintech, healthtech)
- Include methodologies (agile, CI/CD, TDD)
- Include role-specific terms (API design, system design, ML pipelines)

Distribution channels:
□ Company careers page
□ LinkedIn (sponsored post for hard-to-fill roles)
□ Wellfound (formerly AngelList) for startup roles
□ Hacker News "Who's Hiring" thread (1st of each month)
□ Keyhole / Otta / Y Combinator jobs board
□ Relevant Discord/Slack communities
□ Twitter/X post with hiring hashtag
□ Employee referral bonus announcement
□ University career boards (for junior roles)
□ Diversity-focused job boards (PowerToFly, Jopwell, etc.)

Phase 5: A/B Testing JDs

For high-priority roles, test two versions:

Version A: Traditional
- Formal tone
- Requirements-heavy
- Standard structure

Version B: Modern
- Conversational tone
- Impact-heavy
- Non-traditional structure

Track:
- Application volume per version
- Quality of applicants (screen pass rate)
- Source attribution (which board/channel)
- Time to fill

Optimization levers:
- Title variations ("Backend Engineer" vs "Platform Engineer")
- Compensation transparency (shown vs. not shown)
- Remote flexibility (featured vs. buried)
- Application friction (resume-only vs. multi-step)

JD Templates

Engineering Role

# [Senior/Staff] [Backend/Frontend/Full Stack] Engineer

**Location:** [Remote / City, State / Hybrid]
**Team:** [Team name or function]
**Comp:** [$X-$Y base] + [equity details]

## What you'll do
[Company] is [1-line what company does]. We're looking for a [level]
[role] to [specific mission of the role].

You'll:
- Own [specific system/feature area] end-to-end
- [Second key responsibility with impact]
- [Third key responsibility with impact]
- [Fourth key responsibility with impact]
- [Fifth key responsibility with impact]

## What you've done
- [X]+ years building [type of systems] in [languages/frameworks]
- [Specific experience requirement]
- [Specific experience requirement]

## What would be great
- [Bonus skill or experience]
- [Bonus skill or experience]

## What we offer
- [Specific comp and equity]
- [Specific benefits highlights]
- [Specific culture/lifestyle perks]

**Apply:** [link or email] — resume or LinkedIn, your choice.

Non-Technical Role

# [Title] — [Department]

**Location:** [Remote / Hybrid / City]
**Reports to:** [Title, not name]

## The role
[1-2 sentences on why this role exists and what it will achieve.]

## What you'll own
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]

## What you bring
- [X]+ years in [domain/function]
- [Specific skill or experience]
- [Specific skill or experience]

## Why [Company]
- [Genuine differentiator 1]
- [Genuine differentiator 2]
- [Genuine differentiator 3]

**To apply:** [simple instructions]

Integration with Other Skills

• hr-candidate-hunter: JD informs candidate search profile and sourcing
• hr-interview-designer: JD requirements become interview scorecard criteria
• hr-offer-architect: Comp transparency in JD aligns with offer strategy
• hr-talent-pipeline: Pipeline candidates get first access to new JDs

Files

• memory/hr/jd-[role-title].md — Final job description per role
• memory/hr/jd-ab-test-[role].md — A/B test results for JDs
• memory/hr/jd-templates.md — Company-specific JD templates