Most job description writing fails because it describes a fantasy candidate instead of the actual work. A job description should describe the work, not the wishlist. List the three things this person will do in the first ninety days, the skills they actually need, and what success looks like. Skip the requirements section. Describe the first ninety days honestly, name the must-haves, and delete the wishlist.
Culture is what you tolerate, not what you say
Every company has a culture. The question is whether it is intentional or accidental. Intentional culture comes from the behaviors you reward, the behaviors you tolerate, and the behaviors you punish. If you say you value transparency but punish people for sharing bad news, your actual culture is secrecy.
The test for your real culture: what behavior gets someone promoted, and what behavior gets someone fired? Those two answers define your culture more accurately than any values deck. If the person who hits their number but treats people badly gets promoted, your culture is results-at-any-cost. If the person who misses their number but helps the team gets a second chance, your culture is collaborative. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you are building.
Your first five hires determine your company's DNA
Your first five hires determine your company's DNA more than any mission statement or values document. Hire for slope, not intercept. Someone who is learning fast will outperform someone who knows it all within eighteen months. The interview question that matters most is not what have you done but what would you do here in the first ninety days with what we have.
Reference checks are underrated. Not the ones the candidate gives you, but the ones you find yourself. Spend thirty minutes on the phone with someone who managed them and was not prepped. Ask one question: would you hire them again, and why? The pause before the answer tells you more than the answer itself. Trust the pause.
Design interviews to test the actual job
Most interviews test interviewing skill, not job skill. The candidate who is charming, well-prepared, and great at answering behavioral questions may be terrible at the actual work. Design interviews that simulate the job: a sales candidate should do a mock discovery call, an engineer should review actual code, a marketer should critique your actual content.
The working session interview is the most predictive format. Give the candidate a real problem from your business, thirty minutes of context, and sixty minutes to work through it with you. You learn how they think, how they handle ambiguity, and how they collaborate. They learn what the job actually involves. Both sides make a better decision.
Onboarding is a product, not an orientation
The first thirty days determine whether a hire succeeds. Not because the work is hard, but because the context is missing. The new hire does not know why decisions were made, who to ask for what, or what done looks like. Onboarding should transfer that context systematically, not leave it to osmosis.
The thirty-day plan: week one is context (product, customers, market, history). Week two is shadowing (watch the person they are replacing or the person they will work closest with). Week three is doing with support (start the actual work with a safety net). Week four is doing independently. At the end of thirty days, they should be able to do their core job without asking for help. If they cannot, the onboarding failed, not the hire.
Compensation should be simple, fair, and boring
Early-stage compensation should be simple enough to explain in one sentence. Base salary plus equity, with clear bands for each role. The moment you start negotiating custom packages, you create inequality that breeds resentment. Pay fairly from the start and you avoid the conversation entirely.
Equity should be meaningful enough to matter but not so large that it creates misaligned incentives. For the first ten employees, point-five to two percent depending on role and seniority is standard. Vesting over four years with a one-year cliff. No acceleration clauses for early employees. The equity conversation should take five minutes in the offer call. If it takes longer, the candidate is optimizing for the wrong thing.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a job description attract the right people?
It describes the work, not the wishlist: the three things this person will do in the first ninety days, the skills they actually need, and what success looks like. Specificity filters better than adjectives.
Should job descriptions list requirements?
A short must-have list, three to five items. Long requirements sections screen out strong candidates, especially those who do not pattern-match to the last person in the role. Describe the job; let candidates self-select.
What kills response rates on job posts?
Corporate filler: fast-paced environment, rockstar wanted, competitive salary. Every company claims these. The posts that get applications say what the person will build and why it matters.
Should I put salary in the job description?
Yes. A range saves everyone a week and signals you pay fairly on purpose. Hiding salary does not improve your negotiating position; it reduces your applicant pool by a third or more.
How do I write a job description for a role I have never done?
Ask three people who do the job what their week actually looks like, then write that. Steal structure from companies you respect, but the ninety-day plan has to be yours, because it is the interview.