I decided to test one of those fancy AI job description writers everyone keeps hyping. You know, the tools that promise to "revolutionize" job postings and "eliminate bias" and "attract top talent."

I fed it a basic prompt: "Write a job description for a mid-level software engineer."

What came back was a masterpiece of recruiting absurdity that would make even the worst HR departments proud.

The Requirements Section Was a Red Flag Convention

The AI confidently listed the following requirements:

• "5-10 years of experience with React, Angular, AND Vue"
• "Expert-level proficiency in emerging technologies"
• "Rockstar mindset with ninja-level problem-solving skills"
• "Must be a self-starter who works well in teams"
• "10+ years of experience with Kubernetes" (which is 9 years old)

I'm not sure what's more impressive: that the AI managed to request impossible experience timelines, or that it unironically used "rockstar ninja" in a job description in 2025.

The Responsibilities Were... Creative

According to the AI, this mid-level engineer would be responsible for:

• "Architecting enterprise-scale solutions" (that's a principal engineer job)
• "Mentoring junior developers while also learning from senior team members" (so... mid-level, then?)
• "Driving innovation across the organization" (sir, this is a Wendy's)
• "Taking ownership of the full software development lifecycle" (alone? seems like a lot for one person)

The AI essentially wrote a job description for a junior developer, senior engineer, tech lead, and CTO rolled into one. All for mid-level pay, I'm sure.

The "Culture" Section Sounded Like a Hostage Note

My favorite part was the company culture description:

"We're a fast-paced, dynamic startup environment where you'll wear many hats and thrive under pressure. We work hard and play hard, with unlimited PTO (that you should definitely not use) and a ping-pong table (instead of competitive salaries)."

Okay, I added the parts in parentheses. But the AI really did write "fast-paced, dynamic startup" and "wear many hats" and "work hard, play hard" with zero awareness that these are the red flags candidates actively filter out.

The Salary Range Was "Competitive"

Naturally, the AI didn't include an actual salary range. Instead, it went with the classic "competitive compensation package" phrasing that tells candidates absolutely nothing.

When I specifically prompted it to include a salary range, it gave me: "$60,000 - $180,000 depending on experience."

A $120,000 range. For a mid-level position. That's not a salary range, that's a guessing game.

The Qualifications Had a "Nice to Have" Section That Was Longer Than Required Qualifications

The "nice to have" section included:

• "PhD in Computer Science or related field" (nice to have for a MID-LEVEL role?)
• "Published research in machine learning" (again, mid-level?)
• "Experience speaking at technical conferences" (that's a weird flex)
• "Contributions to open source projects" (okay, this one is fair)
• "Passion for technology" (as opposed to people who hate technology but applied anyway?)

And Then Things Got Weird

Buried in the middle of the AI-generated description, I found this sentence:

"The ideal candidate will be comfortable with ambiguity and thrive in uncertainty while meeting clearly defined objectives."

So... comfortable with ambiguity while also meeting clearly defined objectives? Is the ambiguity whether the objectives are actually defined? I have questions.

There was also this gem: "Must be detail-oriented and able to see the big picture."

Thanks, AI. Very helpful. Next, you'll tell me they should be introverted extroverts who work independently in collaborative team environments.

The Skills Section Was Just Buzzword Soup

The required skills list looked like someone threw a handful of tech trend articles into a blender:

• Agile/Scrum
• DevOps mindset
• Cloud-native architectures
• Microservices
• AI/ML integration
• Blockchain (WHY is blockchain always in these lists?)
• Quantum computing (I swear I'm not making this up)
• Strong communication skills

QUANTUM COMPUTING. For a mid-level software engineer position. The AI apparently believes we're hiring for Google's quantum research division, not a standard development team.

The Best Part? The AI Was "Bias-Free"

The tool proudly proclaimed it had eliminated bias from the job description. You know, by asking for rockstar ninjas with impossible experience requirements and PhD qualifications for mid-level roles.

Because nothing says "bias-free hiring" like filtering out 99.9% of the candidate population with absurd requirements.

So What Did We Learn?

AI job description tools are exactly as good as the humans who trained them—which means they're trained on thousands of terrible, unrealistic, buzzword-stuffed job descriptions that nobody should be writing in the first place.

Garbage in, garbage out. Except now the garbage comes with a nice UI and costs $99/month.

The AI didn't eliminate bias. It didn't write a better job description than a human. It just automated the creation of the same inflated, unrealistic, red-flag-filled job postings that make candidates roll their eyes.

The Real Punchline

The saddest part? I've seen dozens of real job descriptions from actual companies that look exactly like what the AI generated. Which means either:

A) AI is already writing tons of job descriptions and nobody noticed, or B) Human-written job descriptions are so bad that AI can't tell the difference between parody and reality

I'm honestly not sure which is worse.

How to Actually Use AI for Job Descriptions

If you're going to use AI to help write job descriptions (and it can be useful as a starting point), here's the move:

1. Use AI to generate a first draft
2. Delete everything that sounds like corporate nonsense
3. Remove any requirements that are impossible (like 10 years of experience in 5-year-old tech)
4. Cut the "rockstar ninja" crap
5. Add an actual salary range
6. Have a human who understands the role review it
7. Remove everything from the "nice to have" section except things that are actually nice to have

Basically, use AI to generate a template, then rewrite it to sound like a human wrote it for other humans who might want to work there.

The Bottom Line

AI job description tools are pretty good at writing job descriptions that sound professional and check all the corporate buzzword boxes.

They're terrible at writing job descriptions that make sense, attract real candidates, or reflect what the job actually entails.

Until AI learns the difference between "requirements that sound impressive" and "requirements that are possible and relevant," you're better off writing your own job descriptions. Or at least heavily editing whatever the AI spits out.

Because if your job description asks for rockstar ninjas with quantum computing experience, don't be surprised when the only applicants you get are people who didn't read the description.

Which, honestly, might be the smartest candidates of all.