3 Job Description Examples, and What Makes Them Great

Finding excellent employees is no easy task. Not only do you have to know how to create job descriptions that attract the right skills but the top candidates in a field. The way you write your listings can make a difference in the employee pool you attract. The perfect mix of job description examples can attract more qualified applicants.

Adding just the right mix of personality traits and hard and soft skills to the description lets you show potential workers what you need from them. Every company has a unique culture, so the more specific you can be, the better luck you’ll have finding the right person. 

Forbes reports around 72% of hiring managers believe their job descriptions are straightforward and complete, but a mere 36% of job candidates say the same. In a competitive job market, companies must do better if they hope to attract skilled workers. Spending more time creating descriptions can go a long way toward helping find the perfect fit for any role and ensuring the new employee isn’t disappointed.

What to Include in a Job Description

Although a job description needs to be short enough to qualify as minimalistic, it also should have a few key points. 

• Job title Responsibilities specific to the job 
• Required or preferred qualifications 
• What the job accomplishes for the company as a whole 
• Provided benefits 
• Skills needed 
• Experience preferred 
• Salary range 
• If the job is remote, in office or hybrid

Other items can, of course, be covered in the offer letter or during the interview process. You might also want to discuss company culture and expectations for involvement. Some people prefer hands-off roles where they can just work and not worry too much about socializing or unproductive tasks. Others want a family-like atmosphere.

Learn How to Create Job Descriptions With These Examples

One of the best ways to learn how to create excellent job descriptions is by studying examples. Here are some job descriptions for various roles. We’ve pulled ideas from some of the listings with the most engagement on sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed. We studied the top ones and came up with some examples for a mock company. All the descriptions below are made up for a pretend organization. They are simply to give you an idea of how to craft your own.

Seeking Graphic Designer

ABC Company is looking for an innovator to join our family-like crew. If you enjoy the best of both worlds, we come into the office two days a week and have the option to work remotely three days. Daily scrum meetings via video conferencing keep everyone on the same page throughout the week. 

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• 8-hour days; Monday through Friday
• Assist marketing department with design projects 
• Maintain brand style throughout assets 
• Capture photos and videos of special events 
• Outreach activities

Salary and Benefits

• Salary $50,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on experience and special skills. 
• 401k
• Vision, dental and health
• Five weeks paid time off 
• Unlimited unpaid vacation
• Maternity and paternity leave

Experience and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in design, art or communications 
• 2+ years experience in a fast-paced agency 
• Skills in Meta Business, Google, Adobe Suite and Buffer

Note how the job description above is very to the point and minimalistic. The thing that makes this job description great is that candidates can quickly skim over it and see if they’re a good match.

Other companies go into great detail. Here is an example of what a job listing description might look for a company providing a ton of detail.

Lead Graphic Designer

ABC Company is looking to fill the position of lead graphic designer for our marketing department. The position is located in St. Joseph, Michigan, where our headquarters reside. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that rivals most others in the industry.

ABC Company is a family-owned company. We’ve been in business for thirty years. In addition to an excellent company culture, we host family gatherings so our employees can bring their family members to our annual company picnic and holiday parties. 

The lead graphic designer will be responsible for overseeing all projects coming in and out of the marketing department. 

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

The lead graphic designer will work Monday through Friday. You will be in constant contact with leadership, sales and marketing throughout the day. We keep our project management tools open. You must be able to think fast on your feet and pivot as needed.

In addition to working closely with the marketing department, you’ll need to capture unique photos to use on our website and social media. Everything must adhere to our brand style guide. 

We host two events per month. The lead graphic designer must capture photos and videos to use in promotions about the brand. 

Salary and Benefits

Salaries in our area would indicate a range of $50,000 to $60,000 per year for the skills and experience we seek. However, we can pay more for the right candidate. Tell us everything you know and what projects you’ve worked on and let’s see if we’re a match and can meet your salary requirements. 

Our company offers a 401(k) plan with matching up to 5% of contributions to $5,000 from the company per year. We offer comprehensive vision, dental and health provided to the employee at no charge with a $30 deductible for well visits. Family members can be added for additional fees. 

We want you to have the time you need for your mental health and physical well-being. We don’t limit your PTO, but ask that you make sure any projects are covered before you leave. If you have a baby, we offer six weeks paid maternity/paternity. After six weeks, you can go to a remote work schedule for an additional 90 days. 

ABC Company prioritizes mental health. If you feel overwhelmed, talk to us. We will figure out a solution that allows you to feel safe and balanced. 

Experience and Skills

The ideal candidate has a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, art studies or communications. We will consider other majors that pertain to the skills needed to create commercial art.

Seeking someone with a minimum of two years in an agency setting or other fast-paced environment. Volunteer work counts. If you created branded materials for your local nonprofit, we want to see the finished products. 

Let us know what software you are familiar with and what projects you’ve worked on. We care about results. If you helped the nonprofit increase donations by 25%, tell us how you managed to do so and show us the proof. 

• Meta Business
• Google
• Adobe Suite
• Buffer
• Video creation
• Photography
• A firm understanding of how to effectively utilize artificial intelligence without copying content from bots

The above job description gives you a better feel for what the company expects from its workers and what the culture might be like. It has a more serious tone better suited for agencies that serve financial, military or healthcare sectors. 

Still other companies prefer to showcase their creative side, especially for a position such as graphic designer.

Looking for a Trendy Graphic Designer

ABC Company offers a fun, relaxed work culture. We care more about getting tasks done with excellence than how long it takes you. If you work faster than others and turn in your assignment early, feel free to knock off for the day, even while still on the clock. 

Do you love to keep up on the latest tech news in design, try new trends and follow favorite artists? So do we and we encourage our staff to attend conferences, take trips to their favorite museums and build skills online. We even offer an annual stipend to offset your costs. 

Are you up on all the latest buzzwords and what people are talking about online? You’ll fit right into our team.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Complete projects as assignment by project manager
• Brainstorm with team members to ensure campaigns are on target for each client
• Meet deadlines and edit tasks as needed

Salary and Benefits

• Up to $60k per year and $3,000 signing bonus for the right candidate
• 401(k) with percentage match
• Vision, dental and health and HSA
• Unlimited vacation days 
• Maternity/paternity leave
• New puppy leave
• Starting a new role play game with friends and need a few days to learn it leave

Experience and Skills

• We value a lifelong learner attitude and ability to pick up new skills over initials after your name 
• Experience designing – we just want to see what you’ve done before so drop us a link to your portfolio
• Skills in design and editing software

We are a fun company to work at and we want to hear why you think you’re the perfect candidate for us. 

Note how the description talks about fun, trends and has an ultra relaxed attitude. This type of description is going to attract candidates who think outside the box. They might not punch a clock from nine to five but they’re going to come up with innovative ideas and get the job done on deadline. 

Study More Job Description Examples

The examples above are just a few short ones we pulled together to show you the different tones you can take with a job description in your listing. You can get as detailed as you’d like. If you’re still unsure what all to add to yours, look at what other companies do for compatible roles. Are you missing any key ingredients? Could your language be clearer?

Study examples not to copy another company but to learn what works best and attracts top candidates to apply.