Write job descriptions that attract the right people (in 5 minutes)

Most job descriptions posted by small UK businesses are bad. They are vague, jargon-filled, copied from the internet, or so generic that they could apply to any company in any sector. Then the business owner wonders why they get flooded with unsuitable applications or, worse, no applications at all.

A well-written job description does two things. It attracts the people you want. And it puts off the people you don't. Both outcomes save you time.

AI writes excellent job descriptions in about five minutes. Here is how to do it properly.

What makes a good job description

A good job description answers six questions that every good candidate is asking when they read it:

What will I actually be doing day to day?
What experience and skills do I need?
How much does it pay?
Where is the job and what are the hours?
What kind of company is this?
What does success look like in this role?

Most job descriptions fail on at least three of these. The most common failures: vague duties ("supporting the team with various tasks"), missing salary, and a culture section that says nothing ("we're a friendly, fast-paced team" applies to every business in the country).

Always include the salary

This is non-negotiable in the UK market. Candidates who don't see a salary listed assume the worst: either the pay is poor or the employer is playing games. Both interpretations drive away good applicants.

Including the salary saves time on both sides. You only hear from people who are comfortable with the range. Applicants don't waste time applying for jobs that won't pay their bills.

If you genuinely don't have a fixed salary yet, provide a range. "£28,000 to £34,000 depending on experience" is honest and gives candidates enough to make a decision.

The prompt

Copy this into Claude and fill in every bracket with specific information.

"Write a job description for a [job title] at [company name], a [type of business] based in [location, be specific, e.g. Birmingham city centre, or remote with occasional travel to our Bristol office].

About the role: [describe what the person will spend most of their time doing. Be specific. Think about a typical day or week, not a list of every possible task they might ever do].

Requirements: [list the skills and experience that are genuinely necessary. Be honest about what you actually need versus what would be nice to have].

Desirable but not essential: [things that would be useful but shouldn't disqualify otherwise strong candidates].

Salary: £[amount or range] per year [or per hour].

Hours: [e.g. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm / flexible working available / part-time considered].

Contract: [permanent / fixed-term / freelance].

What success looks like: [describe what you expect a good person in this role to have achieved in their first six months].

About us: [two or three sentences about the company, what you do, who your customers are, and what makes working there interesting or different. Be honest and specific, not aspirational and vague].

Culture: [describe how you actually work. Remote or office, collaborative or autonomous, startup energy or established processes, whatever is genuinely true].

Format: professional but human tone. UK English. Aim for around 400 words."

Before and after

Here is what bad looks like versus what AI produces when you brief it properly.

Before (typical small business job posting):

"We are looking for a motivated Marketing Executive to join our growing team. The successful candidate will support the marketing function with various digital and offline marketing activities. The ideal candidate will have 2 years' experience in a similar role and will be a team player with excellent communication skills. Competitive salary. Apply with CV and covering letter."

This tells a candidate almost nothing. What does "support the marketing function" mean? What channels are involved? What does "competitive" mean? What kind of business is it?

After (using the AI prompt above, for a marketing role at a plumbing and heating company):

"We're looking for a Marketing Executive to join Waterflow Plumbing, a 15-person commercial plumbing and heating contractor based in Leeds.

The role: You'll run our marketing day to day. That means managing our social media (LinkedIn and Instagram primarily), writing and sending our monthly email newsletter to 800 customers, managing our Google Ads account (roughly £2,000/month budget), and keeping our website up to date in Squarespace. About 60% of your time will be content and copywriting.

What you need: Two or more years of hands-on digital marketing experience. Solid writing skills. Comfortable using Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager. Experience in a trade, construction, or B2B environment is a plus but not required.

Salary: £28,000 to £32,000 depending on experience.

Hours: Full-time, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. Hybrid: three days in our Leeds office, two days at home.

What good looks like: Within six months, you will have our social posting consistent, our email list engaged, and our Google Ads performing better than they are now (we'll show you the current benchmarks at interview)."

The second version gets better applicants, filters out people looking for a different kind of role, and treats candidates like adults.

Culture fit

Culture fit matters, but it is easy to write badly. Instead of writing aspirational fluff, describe how you actually work.

Prompt:

"Help me write two to three sentences about the culture at my business that are honest and specific, not generic. Key things to convey: [describe your actual working environment, management style, what you expect from people, and what you offer in return]. UK audience."

The best culture statements make some people think "that's not for me" and others think "that's exactly what I'm looking for." Both outcomes are good. Vague statements that could apply to anyone attract everyone and filter out no one.

Write the description once with AI. Post it on Indeed, LinkedIn, and your website. Update it when things genuinely change.