An essential part of a job posting that can do wonders for your company is a well-written job description. Well-chosen words crystalize what the job is all about and leave no room for misunderstanding. And a clearly written job description can help your recruiting and retention strategies by helping you attract and keep the best talent.

Writing a job description goes beyond simply summarizing the essential job functions of the role and mentioning a salary range. An effective job description covers nearly everything the employee does, letting applicants know what they have to do, how they have to do it, and how their performance will be measured.

In some respects, writing the job description for a job posting is the same whether the job is remote or in-person. But remote work isn’t for everyone. When it comes to finding and keeping top remote talent, it’s important to include several remote-specific elements in your job description.

Writing the Job Description

Before you start crafting your remote job description, make sure you include some of the essential elements of any job description.

Short and Sweet

In a job posting, the information about the role should be dynamic and interesting. Job postings are, in essence, an advertisement for your opening. You want to entice qualified candidates into applying to the role, so you want to make the job and the company sound exciting or desirable.

That said, you don’t want to say, “it’s a cool job,” and leave it at that. You want to make sure that applicants understand, in some detail, what the job is all about. You don’t need to do a deep dive into the role. However, you should include the elements that will help staff understand what their essential duties are, what will be expected of them, and what success looks like.

Use a Specific Title

As fun as it is to have the title of “Rockstar Marketer” or “People Wizard,” these aren’t particularly helpful or clear job titles. While it may make your company seem like a fun place to work, these kinds of titles don’t mean anything outside of your office.

If nothing else, if you use that job title as part of a job posting, the applicants you’d like to attract will have a hard time finding it. Very few people have a degree in “People Wizarding,” which makes it far less likely that when job seekers are searching for a new role, they are looking for a People Wizard position. They are more likely looking for traditional job titles like “Human Resources Specialist” or “Human Resources Coordinator.”

As you craft the job description, stick with traditional titles that people are probably searching for. This makes it more likely that your job posting will show up in their search results.

Use Inclusive Language

Beyond using gender-neutral language (salesperson instead of salesman or saleswoman), make sure you aren’t using other gendered wording in your job description. Using gender-neutral language throughout your job description can increase diversity in your hiring pool.

One study found that using masculine wording in job postings and descriptions can make women feel less likely that they’ll fit into the job or the company. And while masculine-worded job descriptions did not affect a woman’s perceived level of skills required for the job, it could make women less likely to apply.

So, what do gendered words look like? The following are some words that tend to be masculine:

• Ninja


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• Competitive
• Confident
• Outspoken
• Hacker
• Rockstar
• Determined
• Driven

On the flip side, feminine words are:

• Collaborative
• Committed
• Cooperative
• Enthusiastic

Of course, you want employees who are confident and determined. And you probably also want staff who are committed and collaborative. Keep in mind that you may need to balance the number of masculine words with an equal number of feminine words to encourage every qualified candidate to apply.

Include the Sour With the Sweet

While it’s tempting to only include the good parts about the role in a job description, it’s not fair to omit potential deal breakers—things that could impact whether or not someone accepts the offer.

For example, if the job requires extensive overseas travel, spell that out in the job description. The last thing you want is someone in a position who hates traveling, or worse, can’t be away from home for extended periods of time. It’s better to acknowledge the less savory aspects of a job upfront than wait until it’s time to put out an offer and discover the person is no longer interested because of the “key detail” you left out.

How to Write a Remote Job Description

While a job description for a virtual job includes much of the same information as any job description, there are some remote-specific elements you should include.

Since you only want to interview applicants interested in remote work, you need to be clear that this is a remote position. You also want job seekers who are interested in remote work to be able to find your job posting. To ensure this happens, make sure the fact that this is a remote position is clear.

Use the Right Remote Keywords

Just like you use common and often searched job titles in your job description, you should also use commonly searched remote keywords. Using the right remote lingo in the job description helps applicants understand that it’s a remote role and helps your job search appear in the search results of people looking for remote positions.

Consider adding some of these common remote keywords to your job description:

• Work at home
• Work from home
• Remote
• Distributed
• Work from anywhere
• Virtual
• Home office

Define “Flexible”

Many remote jobs include a certain level of flexibility when it comes to work hours. However, that doesn’t always mean staff can work whatever hours they want. If staff must be “on” during certain hours per your human resource department’s remote work policy, call that out clearly in the job description.

For example, if someone must be working between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern Time, spell that out in the job description. If you don’t, you may find that staff are rarely available during that time, making it difficult to conduct team meetings or client business.

Define “Remote”

Just because you’re offering remote work doesn’t necessarily mean staff can work from home 100% of the time. You may need them to come into the office a few days a week for meetings or training. Likewise, a position may be remote during the pandemic but shift to in-office work once it’s safe.

Define what remote means for the role now and in the future. Clearly identify what happens to the role if it’s remote during the pandemic. Can people still work from home when things return to normal? Will it revert to five days in the office, or just a few? If the remote aspect of the role is temporary, make sure that is crystal clear in the job description, so there’s no room for misunderstanding later.

Clarify the Location

A common misconception about remote work is that someone can live anywhere and still work for a remote company, but that is not always the case. Many remote companies (and around 95% of remote jobs!) have location requirements for tax reasons or because of local employment laws. Some companies allow employees to work from home, but they must live close to the office for meetings or to be near the client base.

Whatever the reason, specify where someone must live when they work remotely for you. In some cases, you may also need to spell out why someone needs to live in a specific region. If it’s for clients, say so. Or, if it’s to attend regular weekly meetings, explain that, too.

Specify Where the Work Can Take Place

Beyond a country or a state location, your remote role may have additional location requirements. For example, someone handling sensitive personal information may not be allowed to work from the coffee shop. Even if the work doesn’t involve sensitive information, you may not want staff logging into company servers from a public wi-fi connection.

If the job requires certain location requirements beyond a city or state, mention that with an explanation of why. “Because you will be handling confidential client information, you must work from your home office. You cannot work in a public location (like a coffee shop or the library).”

Describe the Equipment

Be specific about what technology staff need. Do they require a certain kind of computer? What about internet speed or a VPN? Describe all equipment the company will provide to the employee, as well as any technical support or equipment stipends you make available to virtual workers.

If you expect employees to provide their own equipment, spell out that requirement clearly in the job description.

Also, define what software programs people will use. While many things are cloud-based these days, you may still require staff to have certain licenses to access these programs. Define what they should have and who is paying for it.

Mention the Meetings

Some remote companies have mandatory once or twice a year meet-ups for the entire company. And while some positions offer flexibility and control over daily scheduling, staff may still have to be on call for certain hours. Although flexible work usually gives people control over their work hours, there may still be required meetings on X day at Y time.

Make sure you include these mandatory meetings in the job description. You don’t need to list specific dates and times, though. You can simply say, “Must attend weekly department meetings” or, “Required to attend company retreat twice a year.”

Talk About the Interview

In some respects, a job interview is a job interview, no matter what kind of job it is. However, virtual interviews for remote jobs are often different than in-person interviews for in-office jobs. Pandemic aside, you should define how the interview process will look. 

For example, think about whether you’ll use video conferencing or if the candidate will be asked to pop into your virtual office platform. Or, if it’s by phone, that’s fine, too. Just make sure that you touch upon this key part of the process.

Posting Your Remote Jobs and Finding Top Talent

Overall, a detailed work-from-home job description should be straightforward, with clear and simple language that leaves no ambiguity about the job you’re looking to fill. The better your remote job description, the better your prospects for finding and hiring just the right candidate to fill your flexible job.