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How a Good Job Description for Frontend Developers Should Look Like

Front-end developers specialize in transforming all the logic behind the website into things you can see and interact with. Although they may share tools with other software developers, they need to use features that are exclusive to their purpose.

If you want to build a website or a web application, regardless of its purpose, you’ll need someone who can come in and transform it into something visible and interactable. When recruiting for such a role, you want to make sure you’re displaying correctly what you need from this person, and what skills they should possess to be a great front-end developer in your company.

Your job description will be read by dozens or many hundreds of people online, both inbound and outbound candidates. Some of them may be great front-end developers! With the competitive job market we’re in, you’ll want to stand out and make them look twice at what you’re writing (and offering).

Let’s take a look at what a good job description for this particular position entails, and how you can write one step-by-step.

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Why do we need a good front-end development job description?

A good job description for a front-end developer will make it clear for everyone who you’re looking for, the experience and skills they should have, the tools they’ll be working with, and what they’ll be offered. With a clear description of these aspects, you’ll make sure your candidates are well aware of what’s expected of them, and whether the opportunity fits them or not. This is paramount for any hiring process: if candidates are well aware of what’s requested and think there might be a fit, all parts involved will optimize their time in every step of the way. On the contrary, a lousy and vague messy job description, written without enough knowledge on the product or tools, will attract generalistic applications, and repel good candidates.

Guidelines for a good front-end developer job description

1. Know what tools they’ll be using.

   The start point is understanding what it is exactly you want to build, and with which tools. JavaScript, HTML, and CSS are the basic tools used in front-end development, but are not specific to front-end developers. Ask the team what specific tools will the front-end developer work with, such as libraries or frameworks, and the level of expertise required from this professional.

2. Use appropriate vocabulary describing the job tasks.

   After collecting those elements, make sure you understand what the tasks of these professionals will be. Using the right vocabulary can help anyone reading the job description understand what is required.

   Expressions like interfaces, user experience, or interactive elements are usually present in these descriptions, since they are a part of the front-end developer tasks.

3. Be clear and specific.

   Make sure you’re being clear in what is expected of these professionals. Keep in mind that programming languages like JavaScript are also used by back-end developers, and web designers are also concerned with the website’s visual and interactive aspects. Be specific about what you’re looking for!

4. Understand the importance of soft skills and language skills.

   Now that you know what technical skills are required from the front-end developer your team is looking for, take some time to understand the soft skills needed. Now more than ever, a software developer is a part of an interactive team that comes together to solve problems with the product. Each team is composed by people with different personalities, and the company culture is also different from organization to organization.

   Ask the team: are you looking for someone extroverted, that works well in a big team? Or are you looking for an individual contributor who works well with very small teams?

   Add these components to the job description; it will help developers understand if your team actually fits what they’re looking for.

   The spoken language is an important factor to consider. Will they work in an English-first environment, or will they work with another language they need proficiency in? In any case, adding this can help ensure you meet candidates who already display a good level of speaking skills in that specific language.

5. Go straight to the point.

   Use short phrases and paragraphs when describing the role. Organizing the information with lists can also be helpful.

   When describing the company (including culture and benefits), make sure you’re direct and clear as well.

   Remember: there are hundreds of other companies looking for front-end developers too, and you want to be the one that stands out. Your job description should be easy to read and to understand.

Here’s a template for a front-end developer job posting:

Summary:

We are looking for a fully remote front-end engineer to join our development team! You'll be playing a core role in the development of our website, and you’ll report directly to the front-end lead.

Adding a quick summary can help candidates quickly understand what this job is about. In this example, the location (remote) is displayed, as well the role, what they’ll do, and the team they’ll be a part of.

Our stack:

React.js, Vue.js, HTML5, CSS3

Usually, candidates can have a clear understanding of the tech stack by reading the role’s requirements. Nevertheless, you can add a quick “Our stack” section to make it clearer right in the beginning.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Create trustworthy user experiences by building interfaces that are simple, easy to comprehend, performant and reliable
• Discuss and adapt designs with the design team
• Iterate and scale our design system
• Write clean, functional, and scalable code on the frontend
• Testing and fixing bugs and/or other coding issues.

In this section, you want to explain to candidates what will be their main responsibilities in their day-to-day life as a frontend developer in your company.

What We’re Looking For:

• 3 or more years of experience working with React.js and/or Vue.js.
• Expert knowledge using HTML and CSS.
• Experience building high-quality, responsive layouts.
• Experience with Agile development practices.
• Great communication skills.

Make sure the requirements are straight to the point, and reflect what you’re truly looking for - both in hard skills, and soft skills.

What We Offer:

• Annual salary from $50k to $80k
• 100% remote work
• Equipment
• 25 days PTO
• Paid sick leave
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Annual e-Learning allowance
• Medical insurance

Remember: candidates want to see what you have to offer. Include salary and benefits in the job description!

About Us:

Our company’s mission is to empower communities around the globe to connect and communicate better.

We provide our customers with a SaaS tool to help them manage their own internal communities and coworking spaces. Our typical clients are owners of physical spaces like coworking locations or hostels.

We believe in close contact with customers and quick iterations to drive useful products that add value and create strong and engaged communities.

Describe what the company/organization is doing, and what are your values/ideals. You can either put this in the beginning of the job description, of the end.

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Conclusion

You can start applying this methodology right away. Make sure you establish a clear communication with your development and product teams, so everyone is in the same page regarding what you’re looking for.

By writing a clear and straight-to-the-point job description, you’ll make sure to stand out from the hundreds of other software developer job descriptions out there. This will help you reach great inbound candidates, and will also help you with outbound reach as well.