Terminology — Job Description Optimization Kit
This file is the canonical source for all vocabulary used in job description optimization production. If a term appears differently elsewhere, this file wins.
Core Deliverable Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Position profile | The internal strategy document that defines what the role is, why it exists, what the organization needs, and what the must-have and nice-to-have requirements are. Feeds the scorecard, sourcing strategy, and compensation benchmarking. Never published externally. | "job profile," "role brief," "role spec" |
| Job description | The formal role documentation covering responsibilities, qualifications, reporting structure, working conditions, and compliance elements. Used for internal HR records and may be shared with candidates. | "JD" (acceptable in casual reference but not in the deliverable itself), "role description" |
| Job ad | The externally published document designed to attract qualified candidates. Written for the target audience, not for HR compliance. Leads with what makes the opportunity compelling. | "job posting" (acceptable but less precise — a posting is where the ad appears; the ad is the content), "listing" |
| Must-have | A non-negotiable requirement for the role. If a candidate does not meet a must-have, they do not advance regardless of other strengths. Must-haves are explicitly designated during extraction — never inferred from the role title, industry, or prior documentation. | "requirement" (too broad — doesn't distinguish from nice-to-have), "minimum qualification" (compliance framing, not strategy framing) |
| Nice-to-have | A preferred but not required qualification. May inform sourcing priorities and interview questions but does not create a screening gate. | "preferred qualification," "bonus" |
| Role validation | The upstream conversation where the practitioner and client determine whether the role is actually needed. Precedes all deliverable production. New roles require justification; backfills require confirmation that the role should be refilled as-is versus redesigned. | "role approval," "headcount approval" |
Design Process Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Extraction interview | A structured interview with the hiring stakeholders and practitioner. The primary source of all role definition content. Captures what the role actually needs now — not what the prior documentation says. | "intake," "discovery," "requirements gathering" |
| Stakeholder interview | The specific component of extraction where the practitioner interviews the hiring manager and next-level-up leader together to capture the nuances of the ideal candidate — background, experience, how they show up, what they bring. | "manager interview," "intake call" |
| Compensation benchmarking | The process of establishing a market-informed salary range for the role. Produces a market control point and range that the organization validates. A required input to the position profile. | "salary research," "pay analysis" |
| Market control point | The midpoint salary for a role based on market data. The salary range is typically expressed as a percentage above and below the control point. | "market rate," "going rate," "median salary" |
| Gap | A required piece of content not present in the source material. Flagged and escalated — never filled by inference. | "unknown," "TBD," "placeholder" |
| Gap report | Structured list of every gap identified before a build begins. Build does not proceed until every gap is resolved. | "open items list," "questions list" |
Content Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Role purpose | A clear statement of why this role exists — what organizational function it serves, what capability it provides, what changes about the organization's capacity when this role is filled. Not a summary of responsibilities. | "role summary" (summaries describe; purpose explains why) |
| Responsibility | A specific, observable activity the role performs. Written as actions, not competencies. "Lead annual strategic planning process" is a responsibility. "Strategic leadership" is a competency. | "duty," "task" (too granular — tasks sit under responsibilities) |
| Competency | A behavioral or technical capability the role requires. Competencies describe how someone does the work; responsibilities describe what work they do. Both are needed, but they serve different purposes. | "skill" (acceptable in casual use but imprecise — competency includes judgment and behavior, not just ability) |
| Success measure | What success looks like at a defined time horizon (typically 6 months and 12 months). Helps the organization and the new hire align on expectations. Included in the position profile, not in the job ad. | "KPI" (too corporate for most position profiles), "performance metric" |
| Compelling element | What makes the role and the organization attractive to the target candidate. Used exclusively in the job ad. Compelling elements are about the candidate's experience — not the organization's needs. | "selling point," "benefit" (benefits are one type of compelling element, not the whole category) |
| Target candidate | The profile of the person the job ad is trying to reach — not just qualifications, but who they are now (current role, career stage, what motivates a move). Informs the tone, language, and channel strategy of the ad. | "ideal candidate" (acceptable in general use, but "target candidate" is the specific term for ad design because it acknowledges you're reaching out to someone, not describing a theoretical person) |
Quality Terms
| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|---|---|---|
| Requirement inflation | When nice-to-haves accumulate across hiring cycles and become listed as must-haves. A prior job description that requires an MBA, 15 years of experience, and six certifications for a mid-level role is showing requirement inflation. The extraction interview is designed to deflate this. | "qualification creep," "over-specification" |
| Stale description | A job description that was written for a prior organizational context and no longer reflects the current role. Stale descriptions carry requirements from previous incumbents, defunct reporting structures, and outdated tool references. | "outdated JD," "old description" |
| Design integrity | The quality of a deliverable set where the position profile, job description, and job ad are internally consistent — same must-haves, same role purpose, same organizational context. A job ad that promises things the position profile doesn't include has no design integrity. | "consistency," "alignment" (too vague) |
| Blocking failure | A QC finding that must be fixed before the deliverable is used. No exceptions. | "critical issue," "must-fix" |
| Warning | A QC finding that should be addressed if time permits but does not block deployment. | "minor issue," "nice to have" |