How to write a startup job description that gets qualified applicants

Most startup JDs are written for the company's ego, not the candidate's decision. Here's the structure that gets applications from people you'd actually hire.

Title: what the market calls it

"Senior Backend Engineer", not "Backend Wizard". Candidates search and filter by standard titles; an inventive one hides you. Add a level if you have one (SDE-2, PM II) — it tells experienced candidates whether to bother.

First paragraph: the job, in three sentences

What the person will build or own, who they'll work with, and why it matters to the company now. Not the founding story. Not the funding announcement. Those go at the bottom.

Responsibilities: five to seven, concrete

"Own the payments reconciliation service; on-call one week in six; ship to production weekly" beats "work on cutting-edge fintech problems". Concrete responsibilities let candidates self-select, which is the cheapest screening you'll ever get.

Requirements: separate must-have from nice-to-have

Three to five must-haves, honestly. Every extra requirement halves the applicant pool, and over-specified lists disproportionately deter women and career changers who take them literally.

Salary range: state it

A stated range roughly doubles application rates in most experiments companies have published, and it filters out people who'd decline your offer anyway. On this board, featured roles must state a range. Read why show salary.

Location and working model

City, office address neighbourhood, and whether the role is on-site, hybrid (how many days) or remote. "Bengaluru" alone isn't enough; "HSR Layout, 3 days a week" is.

Apply link: to your own ATS

A Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby or careers-page link. Google Forms and "DM us on WhatsApp" read as unserious at funded companies and trigger scam filters on job boards.

The bottom section

Funding stage, team size, what the company does, benefits. Candidates read this after deciding they're interested — it doesn't need to be first.

Length

400–700 words. Long enough to be specific, short enough to be read on a phone.