Why Your Job Description Is Why You're Getting Bad Applicants

If your last three hires took longer than they should have, or if you consistently find yourself sifting through stacks of applications from people who clearly did not read the role requirements, there is a good chance the problem started before a single person applied.

Your job description is doing the wrong job.

Most Nigerian employers write job descriptions as a formality. A title, a list of duties, a requirements section copied from the last time the role was posted. The goal is to get something live quickly. The result is a document that attracts everyone and filters no one.

This article breaks down the specific ways job descriptions fail, and what to do instead.

The Real Job of a Job Description

A job description has two jobs, and most only do one of them.

The first job is obvious: describe the role so qualified candidates understand what they are applying for. Most descriptions do this adequately, if not well.

The second job is less discussed but equally important: discourage unqualified candidates from applying. A well-written job description should make a person who does not fit the role think "this is not for me" before they submit.

When a job description fails at the second job, every person who sees the posting applies regardless of fit. You end up with 400 applications for a role that has 20 genuinely qualified candidates in it, and you spend three days finding those 20.

The Seven Mistakes That Attract the Wrong Candidates

1. Vague Job Titles

"Business Development Executive" and "Sales Manager" and "Growth Associate" can mean entirely different things at different companies. If your title is generic, your applicant pool will be too.

Fix: Add a qualifier. "Business Development Executive (B2B SaaS, Lagos)" is more specific and immediately filters candidates who do not match the context.

2. Generic Responsibilities

"Manage social media accounts" and "Support the marketing team" and "Drive business growth" tell candidates nothing meaningful. Anyone can claim they do these things.

Fix: Write responsibilities that describe the actual work at your company. "Manage our Instagram and LinkedIn content calendar, produce two posts per day, and report on engagement metrics weekly" is specific enough that someone who has never done this work will recognise they are not prepared for it.

3. Requirements That Are Not Actually Requirements

Listing "5 years of experience" when you would happily hire a strong candidate with three years, or listing a degree requirement when the role genuinely does not need one, creates two problems. First, you lose good candidates who self-select out. Second, you keep attracting candidates who meet the letter of the requirement but not the spirit of it.

Fix: Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves. Be honest about what is genuinely required versus what would be a bonus. If you would hire a candidate without it, it is a nice-to-have.

4. Soft Skills as Requirements

"Excellent communication skills," "team player," "self-starter," "passionate." Every candidate reads these and thinks they qualify. These phrases are noise.

Fix: Replace soft skill requirements with evidence you will look for. Instead of "excellent communication skills," write "comfortable presenting to C-suite stakeholders and able to produce clear written reports without supervision." That is the same underlying requirement but stated in a way that actually differentiates candidates.

5. No Mention of Compensation

Many Nigerian employers leave salary information off job postings because they want flexibility in negotiations. Understandable. But it means every candidate within five kilometres of the range applies, including many who would never accept what you are offering.

Fix: At minimum, post a salary range. If you are not comfortable with a range, say "competitive compensation commensurate with experience" — this at least signals to candidates earning very high salaries that they should ask before applying.

6. No Application Instructions

"Send your CV to [email protected]" is the most common application instruction in Nigeria. It tells you nothing about whether candidates can follow instructions, and it provides no filter.

Fix: Add a simple application question or instruction. Ask for a cover letter that addresses one specific question. Ask candidates to put the role title in the email subject line. Ask for a portfolio or a work sample. Even a simple instruction creates a small filter that removes the least engaged applicants.

7. No Information About the Company or Role Context

Candidates who do not know what your company does, what your culture is like, or why this role exists cannot make an informed decision about applying. Generic applicants apply to everything. Strong candidates apply selectively, and they need information to decide.

Fix: Write a short two or three sentence paragraph about your company that explains what you do, who you serve, and what stage you are at. This is not just good for candidates; it tends to attract people who are genuinely interested in what you are building.

What a Good Job Description Actually Looks Like

Here is a comparison. Both are for the same role.

Weak version:

Marketing Manager needed for a fast-growing company. Must have 5 years experience. Responsibilities include managing marketing campaigns, social media, and supporting the sales team. Excellent communication skills required. Degree preferred.

Stronger version:

We are Okafor Logistics, a B2B freight and courier company based in Lagos handling over 3,000 deliveries weekly for e-commerce businesses across Southwest Nigeria. We are hiring a Marketing Manager to own our demand generation and brand presence as we expand into Abuja and Port Harcourt.

What you will own:

• Monthly email campaigns to a list of 8,000 e-commerce business owners
• Our LinkedIn and Instagram presence (currently 12,000 followers combined)
• Partnership outreach to logistics-adjacent brands for co-marketing opportunities
• Weekly reporting on lead generation metrics to the CEO

What you need to have:

• At least 4 years in a B2B marketing role, ideally in logistics, e-commerce, or a related sector
• Proven experience running email campaigns using Mailchimp or a similar platform
• Comfortable interpreting analytics and adjusting based on data
• Strong written English — you will write copy that goes out under our brand name

Nice to have: Google Analytics certification, Canva proficiency, experience with paid social

Compensation: N350,000 to N420,000 per month depending on experience

To apply: Send your CV and a short note (under 200 words) explaining a marketing campaign you ran and what result it produced to [email protected] with subject line "Marketing Manager Application."

The second version is longer. It will attract fewer applications. But almost every application it attracts will be from someone who has read it, understands the role, meets the real requirements, and has self-selected based on genuine fit.

That is the goal.

Using AI to Write and Refine Job Descriptions

Writing strong job descriptions takes time, especially for roles you are hiring for the first time or hiring at scale. AI tools can significantly speed up the drafting process.

BetternshipHR generates job descriptions from a short brief — you describe what the role is, who it reports to, and what the key outcomes are, and the system drafts a structured posting. You edit to add specifics about your company, your compensation range, and your application instructions.

The combination of AI drafting and human editing produces better job descriptions faster than starting from scratch each time.

Summary

The quality of your applicant pool starts with the quality of your job description. Weak descriptions attract noise. Specific, honest, detailed descriptions attract candidates who are actually right for the role.

The most important changes:

• Be specific about responsibilities — describe the actual work
• Separate real requirements from nice-to-haves
• Add an application question or instruction to filter engagement
• Include company context so candidates can make an informed choice
• Share a compensation range where possible

None of this is complicated. It just requires treating the job description as a real communication, not an administrative checkbox.

BetternshipHR helps you post jobs, screen applicants, and manage your entire hiring pipeline — all in one place. Start free at employer.betternship.com.