Job Descriptions: Communicating Your General Expectations

What Is a Job Description?

A job description provides you with the opportunity to describe your general expectations of an employee. Specifically, a job description is broad statement of the types of a worker's responsibilities. A job description typically provides the following information:

• Job title.
• Level. If the organization has a hierarchy of jobs, the level indicates where the job fits into that hierarchy. If the organization does not, the level provides a general indication of whether the worker is a novice in the job, has some experience, or will be considered a leader in the job area.
• Key tasks that the worker will perform. Some organizations suggest percentages of time spent on these key tasks.
• Responsibilities to organization. That is, how this job is expected to contribute to the overall success of the organization.
• Statement of qualifications. These describe the skills needed to successfully perform this job, and the educational background and the previous experiences that are most likely to have helped a candidate develop these skills.
• Attitudes. Describes some of the key attitudes for success in the organizational culture as well as in this particular job.

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Purpose of a Job Description

• "Selling" the need for the job. For new jobs, the draft of the job description sells upper management on the need for someone to fill this role.
• Salary and benefits. Human Resources staff uses the job description to set the salary. Typically, Human Resources uses the information in the job description to assess the complexity of the job, compare this job with others in the organization and in the job market, to determine what an appropriate salary and benefits package should be.
• Recruiting. Job descriptions are often posted on internal and online bulletin boards as a means of recruiting qualified candidates. Because job descriptions are usually longer than ads in the help wanted section, the job description serves as source material for these ads.

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Format of a Job Description

• Title of the job.
• Broad responsibilities, stated in observable and measurable terms.
• Work products that the worker is expected to produce, such as application programs, test reports, and job reviews.
• Business value that hiring a person into this position brings. Specifically, the business value states how this person will help generate revenue, increase the productivity of other workers, or contain expenses.
• Qualifications. Describe the skills needed to successfully perform this job, and the educational background and the previous experiences that are most likely to have helped a candidate develop these skills. Also describe the attitudes needed to succeed in this work environment.

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Example of a Job Description

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Process for Writing a Job Description

1. Determine the broad responsibilities of the job. Responsibilities are broader than tasks. For example, analyzing needs is a task, developing training courses that meet stated needs are responsibilities.
2. Suggest 3 or 4 key tasks that the worker should perform. .
3. List the qualifications :
• Skills mastered in advance (be as specific as possible)
• Education level (preferred degree and major, acceptable degree and major)
• Certifications
• Professional (like a CPA)
• Tools (like mastery of specialized software, such as networking software)
• Desirable experiences (work experiences rather than years)
4. Describe other characteristics that are preferred in the ideal candidate.
5. Draft the job description.
6. Review within the department, your manager, and the Legal and Human Resources Departments.
7. Incorporating the feedback received, revise the job description.
8. Submit the final draft for approval, using your organization's approval process.

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Issues in Writing Job Descriptions

• Describing the job too broadly. The description could be so broad that interpretation is likely to vary widely among people. For example, "assists with our marketing tasks" can be interpreted to mean assist in devising a strategy, or assist in packaging press kits. Similarly, "promote good will" is too vague. How should this worker promote good will?
• Describing the job too narrowly. The description could be so specific that it leaves little room for changing responsibilities if the needs of the business change. For example, "publishes web updates every Tuesday" does not leave the flexibility to publish other days of the week, much less using different media. Similarly, "serves customers within 5 minutes" might not be appropriate if the company's process changes and service can be provided in less time.
• Using observable terms to describe job responsibilities. In this way, people can observe whether or not the worker is actually performing the job, with a minimum of interpretation among people. Examples: publishes, serves as.
• Avoid value terms, like excellent and good. Instead, redefine all value terms in observable and measurable terms. For example, define "excellent service" in terms of the expectations in the organization.
• Keep the job description brief, no more than 2 paragraphs.
• Use a paragraph-and-list format. That is, list items when appropriate.

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