Write a skills-focused job description by starting with the work the role must do, defining the outcomes it produces, and naming the capabilities candidates need to deliver them. Then explain what experience can demonstrate those capabilities and how you will assess them. A degree, credential, or number of years should appear as a requirement only when it is genuinely relevant to the job or required by applicable rules.
Start with the job as it exists today
Before editing the posting, review the role with people who perform or supervise it. Ask what the major duties are, why they matter, what successful results look like, and what has changed. Remove tasks that no longer reflect the job and distinguish essential functions from occasional or marginal duties.
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This matters for both accuracy and accessibility. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s ADA Technical Assistance Manual says written job descriptions should be reviewed to confirm that they reflect the current job’s actual functions. A description prepared before advertising or interviewing can be evidence of essential functions, but actual work may be more relevant if the document is stale or inaccurate. In ADA analysis, consider the purpose and result of a function rather than assuming the current method is essential; qualified applicants with disabilities may be able to perform essential functions with reasonable accommodation. See the EEOC’s reasonable-accommodation guidance.
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A skills-focused description is not a list of search keywords. For each major outcome, identify the knowledge, skill, or ability needed to produce it, and describe how that capability shows up in the work. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) describes job analysis as a systematic review of tasks and competencies; its federal qualification policy ties qualifications to job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities that may be demonstrated through education, experience, or training. Read OPM’s qualification policy.
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Replace vague traits with the task and context they refer to. For example, instead of asking for “excellent communication,” describe a real requirement such as explaining technical findings to nontechnical stakeholders, if that is part of the job. This is a drafting illustration, not a universal competency or a required phrase.
Skills-first hiring recognizes capabilities regardless of where or how people acquired them. The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 Skills-First Hiring Starter Kit is intended to help employers implement that approach; the department notes that removing a four-year degree screen alone may not resolve implementation challenges. Explore the Department of Labor’s Skills-First Hiring resources.
Describe experience as evidence, not just years
Instead of relying on a number of years as the entire qualification, name the kind of work candidates should have done and what it needs to demonstrate. For example, a posting might specify experience coordinating releases across engineering and support teams if that work is genuinely necessary for the role. If requirements differ by grade or seniority level, state the levels separately.
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OPM’s USAJOBS guidance recommends specific descriptions of specialized experience and clear distinctions between experience levels where relevant. Its advice applies to federal announcements and USAJOBS fields; private employers can use the clarity principle without treating federal instructions as their own rules. Read USAJOBS guidance on describing experience.
Review degrees, credentials, and other screens
For each degree, license, certificate, or minimum experience requirement, ask whether it is necessary on entry and why. Keep formal qualifications required by the work or applicable rules. Where they are not required, consider whether candidates can demonstrate the needed capability through relevant work, education, training, or another route.
State education requirements plainly. If a role has no education requirement, say so where the posting system calls for it. If education can substitute for experience, explain how that substitution works. OPM’s qualification policy recognizes that job-related capabilities may be demonstrated through multiple forms of preparation, while also noting that some federal occupational series have specific standards. Federal rules and USAJOBS instructions are not automatically requirements for private-sector postings.
Use clear, direct language
Write in active voice and address the candidate directly where it helps. “You will oversee the migration plan” is clearer than “The incumbent oversees the migration plan.” Explain specialized experience in terms a qualified applicant can understand, rather than relying on internal jargon or unexplained labels.
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Connect each skill to a suitable assessment
Decide what evidence would show proficiency in each important skill. Depending on the work, that could be a work sample, a structured interview question, a demonstration, or another job-related method. Choose the method to fit the role and setting, not because one format is universally best. OPM cautions that assessment tools are not appropriate for every job and organizational setting, and recommends considering factors such as work complexity, staffing, time, and resources. Read OPM’s Assessment and Selection guidance.
For a concrete federal example, OPM’s Merit Matters article describes an agency IT initiative that used a coding assessment rather than relying only on candidates’ self-reported skills. That example illustrates one possible approach for coding-related work; it is not a general requirement for employers or a rule for roles that do not involve coding. The article also reports that OPM had begun rewriting 604 federal occupational series as part of a classification and hiring initiative; that count describes the initiative, not the impact of skills-first job descriptions. Read OPM’s Merit Matters articles.
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This is a practical structure, not an official universal template. Federal announcements on USAJOBS have their own required sections and field rules.
- Role purpose: State the problem the role exists to solve and its main contribution.
- Key outcomes and responsibilities: List current, meaningful work and the results it supports.
- Skills and capabilities: Group the job-related knowledge and abilities candidates must bring or develop.
- Relevant experience: Describe the work or other evidence that demonstrates capability; distinguish levels where they differ.
- Education and credentials: Identify actual requirements, acceptable substitutions, and the absence of an education requirement where appropriate.
- Work conditions and essential functions: Describe relevant conditions and functions accurately, with applicable accommodation responsibilities in mind.
- How candidates will be evaluated: Explain the evidence or assessment related to the skills named.
Compare a traditional draft with a skills-focused draft
When reviewing two versions, check whether the newer draft is clearer and more defensible—not merely whether it contains more skill words.
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- Specificity: Can candidates understand the capability required and what experience could demonstrate it?
- Necessity: Are degrees, years, and credentials tied to a job-related reason or applicable rule?
- Accuracy and accessibility: Does the posting distinguish essential functions from marginal tasks and the function’s result from its current method?
- Assessability: Is there a suitable way to evaluate each important skill?
- Clarity: Can a job seeker quickly identify the duties, qualifications, and alternatives?
This guidance is U.S.-centered. OPM qualification and USAJOBS instructions concern federal hiring, while the EEOC manual addresses ADA employment provisions. Private employers, other jurisdictions, regulated professions, and individual jobs may be subject to different rules. Consult current applicable law and policy before making legal decisions.
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