Use the posting as a decision tool for the person considering the job. It should let them judge the daily work, its hard parts, the pay, and the path before you spend time screening. The strongest filter comes before the first screen: candidates who read an accurate description and still apply have selected themselves, which is the only screening before you spend time.1 High application volume consumes screening time and can fill the role with people who did not understand the job and leave in month five.2 Make the description specific enough for the wrong fit to opt out and the right fit to know what they are choosing.
Decide what role you are hiring
Decide what kind of person the work calls for before writing the requirements. Settle the seniority, motion, and ownership first so the description has a clear shape.
Identify the type of SDR needed to meet the organization's objectives and discourage unsuitable applicants.3 The title can cover a junior role focused on inbound sales and a senior role with one to four years of experience calling on key accounts.4
Write down the answers before drafting:
- Is this person handling inbound interest, outbound prospecting, or both?
- Which accounts will they work?
- What does the person own from first contact through a held meeting?
- Which parts of the work require experience on day one?
These answers give candidates a usable boundary and keep the posting from combining several roles under one title.
Describe the work day
Describe the daily routine. Broad statements about growth or mission do not give a candidate enough detail to decide whether they want the work.
The role can be reduced to two responsibilities: reaching out and making sure meetings show up.5 List every expected activity, including phone calls, emails, and LinkedIn messages.6 Give enough detail for someone to understand the rhythm of the day. One concrete description says, "You will make around 50 calls and send around 60 emails a day, spend the first hour on research, and have two coaching sessions a week".7
Do not list activities the person will not own. Say whether they need to do their own lead generation and prospecting,8 then make the answer visible in the responsibilities section.
State what happens after a meeting is booked. If the person qualifies the prospect, routes the meeting, confirms attendance, or passes context to someone else, say so. That handoff changes what the job feels like and what good performance requires.
Name the hard parts
A credible posting gives candidates a fit test before an interview. Put the uncomfortable parts in the description so people can make an informed choice.
Name the hard parts explicitly.9 The work involves substantial rejection, repetition, and long stretches where effort and outcome are uncorrelated.10 Say it plainly and let the candidate decide whether that pattern suits them.
Check the draft for soft phrases that conceal the work. Replace broad claims about a growth engine with the actual outreach, research, follow-up, and meeting expectations. The candidate should be able to understand what a difficult week may involve.
Set requirements that match the work
Connect each requirement to an activity in the posting. Requirements should help candidates assess fit and help you screen for the behaviors the work demands.
List the role expectations, responsibilities, and desired tech-stack experience clearly.11 Include the tools used in the role.12 The role requires communication because the person contacts new clients and works with sales and marketing teams. Candidates should be able to voice opinions and explain their choices.13
Separate requirements from preferences. State what someone must already know, what they will learn during onboarding, and what evidence would show they can handle the work. Ask:
- Which requirement predicts success in the daily routine?
- Which preference would remove a capable applicant without helping you judge fit?
- What tool experience will the person use immediately?
This keeps the requirements close to the job instead of turning them into a general wish list.
Publish pay and attainment numbers
Compensation and target attainment show candidates how the role operates. Put the information where they can find it without guessing.
Publish the relevant numbers in the job post.14 Give the base compensation and realistic on-target compensation, and leave out the top-decile figure.15 Report what percentage of the team hit target last quarter, since that line gives candidates a direct view of the operating conditions.16
Make clear what reaching target requires in the daily work. Candidates can judge the offer more accurately when the pay and attainment picture is visible.
Avoid replacing these answers with a culture paragraph.
Describe the path honestly
Career progression is part of the job a candidate is evaluating. Give the path its own section and base the wording on what has happened inside the company.
Describe honestly where the role leads.17 The default promise is promotion to AE in twelve months.18 State how many SDRs were promoted last year, which roles they entered, and how long promotion took.19 AE is not the only possible exit from the role.20
Use a candidate's planning question as the test: What happened to people who held this role, and what does that suggest about my options? If the answer varies by performance, tenure, or business need, say that clearly. A precise path gives candidates enough information to decide whether the opportunity fits their plans.
Run a selection check
Read the draft as a candidate who has never worked inside the company. Remove anything that creates a promise the team cannot keep.
Set expectations before the candidate applies.21 Write the post to select applicants.22 Before publishing, ask:
- Can a reader describe the daily work after one pass?
- Are the hard parts stated plainly?
- Can they see what they will own and what happens after a meeting is booked?
- Are the requirements tied to the work?
- Can they find pay, attainment, and career path without interpretation?
What not to do
These mistakes create avoidable screening work or set expectations the role cannot meet.
- Do not optimize the post for maximum applications.23
- Do not leave the hard parts unstated, because candidates discover them in week two.24
- Do not promise AE in twelve months unless that path is true at the company.25
- Do not label every SDR opening entry-level when the work requires experience and knowledge.26