How to describe the job you want so a search finds it

Start with the work, not the title

Titles vary wildly between companies. “Program manager”, “operations lead” and “chief of staff” can be the same job. Start with the kind of work (consulting, product, data, design, policy) and add a level only if it matters to you.

If you're changing fields, describe where you want to go, not where you've been. Your background is for judging fit; the search is for finding the destination.

Add where, pay and what to avoid

The four parts that cut a list down fastest:

• Where: a city or region, and whether remote or hybrid is fine. “Tampa, hybrid or remote.”
• Pay: the least you'd accept per year. “$150k+.”
• Avoid: work you don't want. “No sales”, “no crypto”, “no on-call”.
• Kind of company, if it matters: “fintech”, “healthcare”, “government”.

Check how it was read

A good search tool shows you what it understood. On Scout each part becomes a chip you can remove, and anything it couldn't use is listed. If a chip is wrong, remove it rather than rewording the whole thing.

Loosen one thing at a time

If the list is short, remove one chip and see how many roles come back. That tells you what each requirement costs. Pay floors and exact cities usually cost the most; “remote or hybrid” instead of “remote” often adds many.

Many listings don't post pay. Looking at those separately, instead of dropping them, keeps good roles from disappearing.