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Write a job description that widens the pool

Turn a rough role idea into a clear, inclusive job description — genuine must-haves only, no gendered or exclusionary language, every quiet screen-out flagged for you.

easy ~20 min

when to reach for this

Most job descriptions narrow the pool by accident. A mid-level role grows a ten-year requirement, a wishlist of "nice-to-haves" reads as hard requirements, and gendered words like "rockstar" or "aggressive" quietly tell whole groups not to apply. This system takes your rough notes and produces a JD that screens for the skills the job actually needs — and flags every phrase that might be turning good people away for no real reason.

gather this first

  • Your rough notes on the role: title, level, team, and what the person will actually do day to day — a few bullets in role-notes.md is plenty.
  • The genuine must-have skills (the 3–5 things someone truly can't do the job without) kept separate from the nice-to-haves.
  • A JD you've used before — even an imperfect one — so Claude can match your format and catch your house habits.

the workflow

  1. Separate the real must-haves from the wishlist

    Before any drafting, force the requirements list to shrink. Every extra "required" line narrows the pool, so the job here is to demote anything that isn't genuinely load-bearing.

    you ask 
    Read role-notes.md. This is a mid-level role. Split what I wrote into two lists: genuine must-have skills (someone literally cannot do the job without these) and nice-to-haves. Challenge anything that looks like a wishlist item dressed up as a requirement, and flag any years-of-experience number that seems too high for the level. Don't write the JD yet.

    what you get back Two clean lists — maybe 4 true must-haves and 7 nice-to-haves — plus a note like "'8+ years' is high for a mid-level role; consider 3–4" so you can decide before it's baked into a posting.

    This split is the highest-leverage move in the whole system: a shorter must-have list is the single biggest thing that widens the pool.

  2. Draft the description from the trimmed list

    Now generate the JD, but anchor it to the must-haves you just confirmed so the requirements section stays honest instead of creeping back to a wishlist.

    you ask 
    Now write the full job description using only the must-haves we confirmed, with nice-to-haves clearly labeled as bonuses. Match the structure of last-jd.md. Sections: what the role does, what you'll work on, must-have skills, bonus skills, how we work. Plain English, no buzzwords.

    what you get back A complete JD with the requirements section visibly shorter than usual — must-haves and a clearly-optional "bonus" block — in your existing format and tone.

  3. Scan for language that screens people out

    This is the inclusion pass. Have Claude hunt for the wording that quietly narrows your pool — and explain why each flag matters, so you're learning the pattern, not just patching one posting.

    you ask 
    Now scan this JD for anything that might narrow the applicant pool for no real reason: gendered or coded words (rockstar, ninja, aggressive, he/she), an experience bar that's too high, jargon a great candidate from a different background wouldn't recognize, and any 'culture fit' phrasing. For each flag, quote the phrase, say why it could screen people out, and suggest a neutral rewrite.

    what you get back A table of flags — "'rockstar developer' → reads as masculine-coded, try 'strong engineer'", "'must thrive in a fast-paced environment' → vague, say what that actually means" — each with a quoted phrase, the reason, and a fix you can accept or reject.

    Read every flag yourself. Some "coded" words genuinely fit your role; you decide which to keep — Claude surfaces, you choose.

  4. Add an inclusive close and a clear apply path

    The last lines of a JD change who hits apply. A note that encourages people who don't tick every box, plus a concrete next step, recovers candidates the requirements list scared off.

    you ask 
    Add a short, genuine encouragement-to-apply line for people who don't meet every bullet (no clichés), a one-sentence note on how we support flexibility or accommodations, and a clear 'how to apply' with what to send and a [closing date] placeholder. Keep it warm and specific.

    what you get back A closing block that explicitly invites people who meet most-but-not-all requirements, names your flexibility honestly, and ends with a concrete apply step and a date placeholder you fill in.

make it your own

  • **Senior or specialist role:** keep the must-have list short but make it sharper — ask Claude to phrase each requirement as a demonstrable skill ("has shipped X") rather than a years number, which screens for ability instead of tenure.
  • **Reuse it across the team:** once your prompts work, save them as a /jd custom command (see the Playbook's *Features* tab) so every hiring manager gets the same inclusion scan, not just the careful ones.
  • **Feeds the hiring system:** this JD is step one of the *Run a hire from open to offer* capstone — the trimmed must-haves become the spine of the interview scorecard, so the questions you ask map to the skills you posted.

watch out for

  • A bias scan is a prompt, not a guarantee. Claude flags common patterns; it won't catch everything, and it can over-flag a word that genuinely fits your role. Read every flag and make the call yourself.
  • Don't let nice-to-haves quietly drift back into the must-have list between drafts — re-check the requirements section before posting, because that creep is exactly what narrows the pool.
  • Claude drafts the JD; a human owns what the role actually requires and what's legal to ask for. Anything touching protected characteristics or local hiring law goes past a real person before it's published.

you'll end up with A clear, inclusive job description in about twenty minutes — built from genuine must-haves, scanned for the wording that quietly screens people out, and ready to open a role without narrowing the pool by accident.