How to Write Job Descriptions That Attract Diverse Candidates

The Problem With Most Job Descriptions

Most job descriptions are written to describe an ideal candidate, not to attract a diverse applicant pool. They're often copied from previous postings, inflated with unnecessary requirements, and written in language that signals — intentionally or not — who the company imagines in the role.

Research from LinkedIn and Textio shows that the language in a job posting directly affects who applies. Women, people of color, and people with disabilities are more likely than other groups to self-select out of a posting if the language feels exclusionary, the requirements seem inflated, or the posting doesn't explicitly signal inclusion.

This means that many employers are filtering out qualified candidates before the interview even begins — not through deliberate bias, but through the accumulated effect of language choices made without thinking about who's reading.

1. Separate Essential Functions From Preferred Qualifications

This is the single most impactful change you can make. Under the ADA, a job's "essential functions" are the fundamental duties that must be performed, with or without reasonable accommodation. Everything else is a preference.

When a job description lists 15 requirements without distinguishing essential from preferred, candidates with disabilities often assume they need to meet all of them. A person who could perform the core job excellently — with a minor accommodation — never applies because they can't meet requirement #12, which turns out to be something the person in the role does once a quarter.

2. Describe Outcomes, Not Methods

How you describe job duties determines who can imagine themselves doing the work. When you describe the method ("Must be able to stand for 8 hours"), you're prescribing one way to perform the job. When you describe the outcome ("Manages a customer-facing retail station throughout the shift"), you leave room for accommodation without changing the job.

• Instead of: "Must be able to lift 50 pounds repeatedly" Try: "Manages inventory including items up to 50 pounds (equipment and assistance available)"
• Instead of: "Must have excellent verbal communication skills" Try: "Communicates effectively with team members and customers"
• Instead of: "Must have a valid driver's license" Try: "Reliable transportation to work locations" (unless driving is an essential function)

This isn't about lowering standards. It's about describing what the job actually requires rather than one specific way of meeting those requirements.

3. Audit Your Language

Certain words and phrases disproportionately discourage candidates with disabilities, women, older workers, and other underrepresented groups:

• "Fast-paced environment" can signal that accommodations like flexible scheduling or modified workloads won't be welcomed
• "Rockstar," "ninja," "superstar" skew toward younger, male-coded stereotypes and can feel exclusionary to candidates who don't see themselves in that image
• "Must be physically fit" excludes people with physical disabilities who could perform the job with standard accommodations
• "Digital native" is age-coded language that excludes experienced workers who are perfectly capable with technology
• "Normal working hours" can discourage candidates who need schedule accommodations for medical appointments or energy management

4. Include an Explicit Inclusion Statement

A boilerplate "equal opportunity employer" line at the bottom of the posting is legally necessary but socially meaningless. Candidates with disabilities have learned to ignore it because every company uses it regardless of their actual practices.

An effective inclusion statement is specific and credible:

• Name disabilities explicitly. "We welcome applicants with disabilities and provide accommodations throughout the hiring process" is more credible than "We value diversity."
• Describe what you actually do. "Interview accommodations are available upon request, including modified formats, extended time, and accessible locations" tells candidates you've thought about this, not just checked a box.
• Include a contact for accommodations. A named person or a specific email address (not just "contact HR") signals that someone is responsible for making this work.

5. Rethink Your Requirements List

Inflated requirements are one of the biggest barriers to diverse hiring. Research consistently shows that women and underrepresented candidates are less likely to apply unless they meet 100% of stated requirements, while other candidates apply at 60%.

• Does this role really require a degree? Many roles list a bachelor's degree as a requirement when the actual skills needed can be (and often are) developed through experience, training programs, or vocational rehabilitation.
• Does "3-5 years of experience" reflect the learning curve? If someone could learn the role in 6 months, requiring years of prior experience filters out career changers, people re-entering the workforce, and workers whose experience doesn't fit the traditional mold.
• Are your technology requirements current? Listing specific software versions or tools that the company will train on anyway creates unnecessary barriers.

6. Make the Posting Itself Accessible

The content of the job description matters, but so does its format. If the posting itself isn't accessible, you've already excluded candidates before they read a word:

• Use clear, simple language. Write at an 8th-grade reading level. Avoid jargon, acronyms, and unnecessarily complex sentence structures.
• Structure with headings and lists. Screen readers navigate by headings. A wall of text is harder for everyone but especially for assistive technology users.
• Avoid images of text. If your job posting is an image (common on social media), include the full text in the post body or alt text.
• Test with accessibility tools. Run your posting through a basic accessibility checker before publishing.
• Post on accessible job boards. In addition to standard boards, share openings with disability employment organizations, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and placement services like Innovative Placements.

7. Share the Posting Where Diverse Candidates Look

Even a perfectly written job description won't reach diverse candidates if it's only posted where your current workforce already looks. Expand your distribution:

• Disability-specific job boards like AbilityJobs, Getting Hired, and disABLEDperson.com
• Local vocational rehabilitation agencies — in New York, ACCES-VR connects employers with qualified candidates who have disabilities
• Placement services that specialize in disability employment, like Innovative Placements
• Community organizations serving underrepresented populations in your area
• College disability services offices for entry-level roles

The Return on Inclusive Descriptions

Writing inclusive job descriptions isn't charity work. It's a talent acquisition strategy. By removing unnecessary barriers, you widen your candidate pool, reduce time-to-fill, improve retention (candidates who feel welcomed from the start stay longer), and access the full range of talent in your market.

The companies that fill roles fastest and keep employees longest are the ones that make their openings accessible to everyone who can do the work — not just the candidates who look like the last person in the role.