What a great job description includes
A job description has two readers: the right candidate deciding whether to apply, and everyone else deciding to move on. Both decisions are good outcomes, which is why honesty beats polish. The structure that serves both, and the template below follows:
| Section | Job | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| About us | Two or three human lines on the business | Brochure voice; candidates smell it instantly |
| The role | Why it exists, what success looks like | Vagueness; “wear many hats” is not a role |
| What you’ll do | The top 5-7 responsibilities, in bullets | The section candidates actually read; order by weekly hours |
| What you’ll bring | Must-haves (3-4) split from nice-to-haves | Wish lists silently exclude good candidates |
| How we work | Hours, tools, first-month reality | This section does your screening for you |
| Pay & how to apply | The range, the process, the timeline | Ads without a salary range underperform |
How to write a job description that attracts the right people
The standard mistake is writing the role you imagine rather than the job that exists. The fix is mechanical: describe a typical week before you write a single bullet. What will this person be doing on a Tuesday? Which tasks currently eaten by you or the team will they take over? Those tasks, ordered by how many hours they fill, are the responsibilities section, already written and already honest.
Then filter the requirements. For each must-have, ask: would we genuinely reject an otherwise great candidate without this? If not, it moves to nice-to-have or comes off the page. Long requirement lists don’t raise the bar; they narrow the pool to people confident enough to ignore them, which is a different filter than the one you wanted. And state the pay. The awkwardness of publishing a range is smaller than the cost of losing candidates who never applied.
Job description examples for common small-business roles
The same skeleton flexes across the hires small businesses actually make. What changes is the responsibilities section, which is the point:
- Office or studio coordinator: scheduling, supplier chasing, invoice prep, the weekly production list. The bullets come straight from whatever the owner is currently doing at 9pm.
- First salesperson: pipeline ownership, the follow-up cadence, quote turnaround, the CRM habit. Name the revenue reality honestly: inherited pipeline or cold start.
- Trades apprentice or assistant: site prep, materials runs, the qualification pathway. Lead with the learning: it is the honest draw of the role.
- Part-time bookkeeper: invoicing cadence, reconciliation, the monthly close, chasing late payers. Specify the tools; it is the fastest mutual filter there is.
In every case the template stays role-agnostic: one structure, with the “what you’ll do” bullets carrying all the specificity.
Free job description template (plain text, Google Docs, Notion)
Three ways to a posting-ready description. The plain text pastes cleanly into Google Docs or Notion, then straight into the job board.
The plain-text template
Role-agnostic: one structure for any hire, with the top responsibilities in bullets.
JOB DESCRIPTION · [Role title] Company: [name] · Location: [place / remote / hybrid] Reports to: [role] · Type: [full/part-time] · Salary: [range] ABOUT US (2-3 lines) What the business does, for whom, and what it’s like to work here. Written like a human, not a brochure. THE ROLE (2-3 lines) Why this role exists and what success looks like in plain terms. WHAT YOU’LL DO (top 5-7 responsibilities) - [The task that will fill most of their week] - [The second-biggest chunk of the job] - [A responsibility they’ll own end to end] - [The recurring thing, e.g. the weekly report or client calls] - [The messy-but-real part, stated honestly] WHAT YOU’LL BRING Must have: - [3-4 genuine requirements, not a wish list] Nice to have: - [2-3 bonuses, clearly optional] HOW WE WORK [Hours, tools, how decisions get made, the first month] HOW TO APPLY [What to send, to whom, by when, and what happens next]
The AI prompt
Prefer to use your own AI? Copy this into Claude or ChatGPT with a description of a typical week, and it writes the role.
--- title: Job Description Generator description: A prompt that writes a job description for any role from how your business actually works, with the top responsibilities in bullets. author: readywhen source: https://readywhen.ai/job-description-template homepage: https://readywhen.ai license: CC BY 4.0 (free to use and share with attribution to readywhen) version: 1.0 updated: 2026-07-17 keywords: [job description template, how to write a job description, roles and responsibilities, hiring] --- # Job Description Generator _By readywhen. Full guide + free template: https://readywhen.ai/job-description-template_ You are writing a job description for a small business. It should read like this specific company wrote it, not like a role library entry. ## Principles - The top 5-7 responsibilities, in bullets, ordered by how much of the week they will fill. This is the section candidates actually read. - Describe the real job, including the unglamorous parts. Honest descriptions filter better than flattering ones. - Split requirements into must-have (3-4, genuine) and nice-to-have (clearly optional). Wish-list requirements silently exclude good candidates. - State the salary range. Ads without one underperform, and the candidates you want self-select out. - Plain language throughout. "You’ll run the weekly client calls" beats "stakeholder liaison responsibilities". ## Structure About us (human, 2-3 lines) · the role and what success looks like · what you’ll do (5-7 bullets) · what you’ll bring (must/nice) · how we work · how to apply. ## What I need from you The role title and why you’re hiring · what the person will actually spend their week doing (describe a typical week, or paste the tasks currently done by whoever’s covering) · pay range and location/remote setup · your non-negotiables. Ask me for anything missing before you write. --- _Made by readywhen. readywhen drafts the role from your own context: the tasks in your threads and docs that this hire will take over. https://readywhen.ai/job-description-template_
Let readywhen do itRecommended
A role library lists someone else’s job. readywhen builds the description from yours: the tasks in your threads and sent mail that this hire will take over, ordered by the hours they actually fill.
The job already exists in your threads: the tasks this hire will take over. readywhen turns them into a posting-ready description in ~45 seconds, instead of an evening of staring at a role library.
Watch readywhen draft the role from your own context
Role libraries with a thousand pre-written descriptions all share one flaw: none of them know your business. The generic “office coordinator” entry lists someone else’s job. readywhen looks at yours: the coordination work visible in your Slack channels, the scheduling and chasing sitting in your sent mail, the how-we-work reality in your docs.
The responsibilities section comes out ordered by the hours the work actually takes, the description reads like your company because it is built from it, and the posting is ready for wherever you publish jobs.
Works with your existing tools
Job description template FAQs
What should a job description include?
Six sections: a human two-to-three-line about-us, why the role exists and what success looks like, the top 5-7 responsibilities in bullets, must-have versus nice-to-have requirements, how you work (hours, tools, first month), and pay plus how to apply.
How many responsibilities should a job description list?
Five to seven, ordered by how much of the week each fills. Fewer reads as vague; a fifteen-bullet list means nobody prioritised, and candidates discount the whole thing. If the role genuinely has fifteen jobs, that is a finding about the role, not the description.
Should I include the salary in a job description?
Yes. Postings with a stated range attract more and better-matched applicants, and in a growing number of places pay transparency is required by law. The awkwardness of publishing a range is smaller than the cost of the candidates who never applied.
What is the difference between a job description and a job posting?
The description is the internal definition of the role: responsibilities, requirements, reporting line. The posting is the advert built from it, with the about-us and how-to-apply sections doing the selling. The template on this page is structured to work as both.
Is there a job description template for Google Docs or Word?
Yes. Copy the plain-text template on this page into Google Docs, Word or Notion, or download it as a file. All formats are free.
Can’t I just use ChatGPT or Claude to write my job description?
Yes. Paste a description of the role and the prompt above, and you get a solid draft. readywhen is the version that knows what the job actually is, because the tasks this hire will take over are sitting in your threads and sent mail, so the responsibilities come out real instead of generic.
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About the author and editorial standards
About the author. Sançar Şahin is co-founder and CMO of readywhen. readywhen catches everything you say you’ll do and helps you move it forward: drafted, chased or flagged, ready when you are. He builds readywhen in public on LinkedIn.
Editorial standards. No paid placements. Guidance on responsibility counts, requirement filtering and salary transparency reflects common hiring practice; pay-disclosure rules vary by region, so check what applies where you hire. How this page was made: Sançar built the multi-agent research and drafting system behind it, checks its work at several phases, and approves the final page himself. To flag an error, email hello@readywhen.ai.
Last updated: 19 July 2026.