How to write a job brief recruiters can work with

What a brief is for

On Drectly, candidates don't apply to a job ad. A recruiter reads your brief, decides who in their network fits, and pitches the role to that person in a call or a message. Your brief is the only thing the recruiter has when they make that pitch.

So write it the way you would brief a colleague who is about to call a strong candidate for you: what the job is, why someone good would want it, and how you will decide.

The six parts of a good brief

1. The role in one paragraph. What this person will own in their first year, in plain words. Skip the company boilerplate.
2. Must-haves and nice-to-haves. Keep must-haves to three or four. Every extra one removes people a recruiter could have brought you.
3. Salary range. Recruiters won't pitch a role without one, and passive candidates ask for it in the first call.
4. Where and how. Location, workplace (remote, hybrid, on-site) and how many days in the office.
5. Interview process. Each round, its format and roughly how long it takes. Recruiters use it to prepare candidates.
6. Hiring manager's notes. Why people join the team, who did well in this role before, what would make you say yes quickly. This is the part recruiters read most.

What to leave out

• Long lists of tools. Name the two or three that matter and let the recruiter ask about the rest.
• Vague phrases like "rockstar" or "fast-paced environment". Describe the actual pace and the actual work.
• Anything you would not say to a candidate. Recruiters repeat what they read.

A quick check before you publish

Read the brief as a recruiter who has five minutes and one candidate in mind. Can they tell, from the brief alone, whether that person fits and what to say to them? If not, add the missing sentence.