A job post is likely the first thing the candidate is reading about your startup. Have fun, but don’t forget to include these 15 things in your job post.

In my 10+ years as an executive, mentor, and advisor at early-stage startups, I’ve hired hundreds, interviewed thousands, and sifted through a sea of CVs.

These 15 things are essential if you hope to effectively communicate what you’re hiring for, why you’re hiring for that need right now, and what’s in it for the applicant.

The Company

1. What’s the story behind the startup?

2. What is the mission of the startup?

3. What are the values of the startup?

The Role

4. What is the title?

5. What does the role involve?

6. Where does the role sit within the organization?

7. Why is this role important now?

8. What’s in the team stack?¹

The Candidate

9. What is the background of the ideal candidate?

10. What skills are required?²

11. What are the location, hours of operation, or timezone requirements of the role?

The Compensation

12. What is the salary range for this role?

14. What is the equity range for this role?³

15. What are the employee benefits at the startup?

You can always include more elements on the job post if you want to give applicants more insight into your startup.

Some examples…

• Bubbles includes a link to a presentation deck and details on the interview process.

• Flow Club outlines its company values and why now is the perfect time for its offering.

• Fleetio has a culture video and team videos.

¹ Developers want to know what’s in your tech stack, Marketers want to understand your martech, etc. Feel free to not include this if it does not apply to the respective role.

² Does the engineer need experience with diverse types of APIs? Does the marketer need experience running SEM? Etc.

³ If you are an early-stage startup and this is a full-time role and you are not including equity, I strongly urge you to reconsider for the sake of retention and incentive alignment.