Let's be honest: most of your job descriptions are recycled garbage from 2019 that nobody's actually read in years. They're full of "rockstar" and "ninja" nonsense, requirements lists longer than a CVS receipt, and absolutely zero information about what the job actually entails or why anyone should want it.

December is your intervention. Let's audit these disasters before you inflict them on January's job seekers.

Kill Your Frankenstein Requirements

You know that job description that requires 5 years of experience with a technology that's been around for 3 years? Yeah, that's in your ATS right now. So is the one asking for a bachelor's degree for a role that absolutely doesn't need one, and the one with 47 bullet points under "required qualifications."

Go through every job description you plan to use in 2026 and ask yourself: "Would I apply to this job?" If the answer is anything other than an enthusiastic yes, it needs work.

Research from Harvard Business School found that excessive requirements in job descriptions screen out millions of qualified candidates, particularly those without traditional credentials. You're not being thorough, you're being unnecessarily exclusive. Cut the requirements in half, watch your application quality improve.

Add The Stuff That Actually Matters

Salary range. Work location policy. Actual day-to-day responsibilities. You know, the information candidates are desperately searching for while reading your job description that somehow doesn't include any of it?

According to Glassdoor data, job posts that include salary ranges receive 75% more applications and have 30% faster time-to-hire. Remote work policies? That's the first thing 85% of candidates look for, according to FlexJobs research.

Stop making candidates play detective. Tell them what they need to know upfront. "This role pays $85K-$105K depending on experience. It's hybrid with 2 days in-office. You'll spend most of your time doing X, Y, and Z." Was that so hard?

Make It Sound Like Humans Work There

"We're seeking a dynamic self-starter who can thrive in a fast-paced environment while leveraging synergies to drive stakeholder engagement." Cool. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Read your job descriptions out loud. If you sound like a corporate robot having a malfunction, rewrite them. Use normal words. Explain the job like you're telling a friend about it over drinks. "You'll be managing our social media, which means creating content, responding to comments, and trying to make our brand not sound boring on TikTok."

LinkedIn data shows that conversational, authentic job descriptions get 30% more qualified applicants than corporate jargon-filled ones. Turns out people like working with humans, not buzzword generators.

Test Your Descriptions on Real Humans

Before you publish anything in January, run it past actual people. Not HR people. Not other recruiters. Real humans in the role you're hiring for. Ask them: "Does this sound like your job? Would you apply to this? What's missing?"

You'll be shocked at how different your job description sounds compared to what people actually do. The job description says "strategic planning." The person doing the job says "I spend 60% of my time in Excel and 40% explaining to people why their ideas won't work." Guess which version candidates want to hear?

Set Yourself Up for Success

Spend a few hours this December auditing and fixing your job descriptions. When January hits and you need to post 15 roles in the first week, you'll have descriptions that actually work instead of ones that repel qualified candidates.

Your job descriptions are often the first impression candidates have of your company. Make sure it's not a terrible one. You've got time right now to fix this. Use it.