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Looking at the length of it… haha just kidding but also a legitimate tactic. Basically I would look on indeed or monster or whatever site at similar job postings to see how long they are. Ignore the outliers as some might literally be a line or two while other corporations might make it standard practic to include every detail about the job, benefits, color of the bosses shirt etc.
Then once you have a feel for the average of other similar ones look at yours and adjust accordingly.
Personally, whenever I have been looking for a job, the length of the description has never stopped me from applying. However, what it does do… is makes me apply without reading the entire description. If I end up getting a phone interview I do go back and read the entire thing in more detail. Point being… it might be okay to be on the longer side but keep in mind candidates are not going to read it that carefully at first glance.
More anecdotally… I have had situations where a job I applied for had a massive, I mean massive description with 10 bullet points a sentence or two each for responsibilities, role, requirements, benefits etc etc. I applied while only reading the highlights and got a phone interview. Before that interview I was able to go back and print the long description off and take notes. This made me more prepared (and helped move things along as I already knew much more about the role) and allowed me to ask relevant questions right away. If the description had been shorter — I would have been ‘blind’ so to speak going into the interview.
If you want your description to make certain key points though — you are going to want to put them at or near the beginning. If they are a page and a half down they are going to be ignored more times than not. Additionally, if you really only care about say 5 key things but have 20 ready to go with the other 15 being redundant or obvious — stick to the 5. The more focused the description the more focused or specific skills of the applicants you will get.
For example if for requirements you list:
1 - Financial Reporting including Budgets and Forecasts
2 - Experience with Microsoft Dynamics
3 - Experience with Subscription based revenue methods and accounting
You are going to get people with those (very) specific skills. If you list 25 things and those 3 are amongst things like:
# - Is a team player
# - Ability to work I'm fast paced environment
# - Understands basics of accounting
# - Experience with Excel and Word
(For reference the last 2 are VERY important for a Finance job… but they are also a given. No one could be in Finance/Accounting without those skills… its implied you need them. Excel might have value to be included BUT I've never met someone who worked with numbers and couldn't use it)
So yeah, if it's one of 25 with things like the above… you are going to get people with “Excel and Team Player but no Dynamics” or “Accountants with no knowledge of Financial Reporting” and so on.
PS — yes this answer is “too long” though my guess based on that you're asking this question is that you too are someone who tends to overexplain and thus will appreciate the thoroughness of such an answer! :-)
PS - just hit me, this could be someone asking about a job description on their resume. My answer for that is similar to above but also with a couple key points… lots of companies put resumes through AI screening and thus things like “Excel and Word, Team Player, etc.” Are VERY valuable to have somewhere in your resume. Yeah, they're given and a waste of space for humans but absolute requirements for AI screens!
