Job ad vs. job description

A job description is an internal document. It lists the duties, the responsibilities, the requirements, where the role sits in the org chart. HR needs it, the hiring manager needs it, and it's useful for contracts and pay scales. It's written for the company.

A job ad is a piece of marketing. It's written for the candidate, and its only job is to get the right person to stop, want the role, and apply. That means it leads with what they care about, the pay, what the work actually looks like, who they'll work with, why now, and it leaves out most of the internal stuff until later in the process.

What happens almost everywhere is that the description gets copy-pasted onto the careers page and a job board, and that's the "ad." That's why so many vacancies read like a list of demands. The candidate is basically reading your internal paperwork and being asked to get excited about it.

Example

Job description: "Responsible for the planning and coordination of outbound logistics. Reports to the Operations Manager. Requirements: bachelor's degree, 3+ years experience, strong communication skills."

Job ad: "You make sure 80 trucks leave on time every morning. $50,000 to $56,000, day shifts only, a team of five who actually like each other. If you've planned anything with moving parts before, we want to talk."