The Anatomy of a Job Description

Descriptions provide structure and clarity
A job description is like a blueprint. It defines the role, clarifies scope and communicates responsibilities. Without it, a person can't be expected to commit to a role or be held accountable. Indeed, every employee should have a job description. From an employer's perspective, writing a well-constructed job description enables you to think about the role and where it fits in the organization. Large organizations likely have templates for the most common roles, so don't reinvent the wheel unless it's necessary.

Crafting a job description requires a lot of thought. If you’ve consistently recycled outdated job specifications, it’s worth taking the time to revisit those documents, as it will help clarify in your mind the type of individual you want to hire.

This article highlights the benefits of creating job descriptions and takes you step by step, through the process.

An Opportunity to Soul Search
Before you write the job description you have a great opportunity to give thought to what type of person you really need and what the role needs to be. Culturally, what kind of person is going to be the best fit for the role and the company? What technical and soft skills will they require to be successful?

When we draft job descriptions we’re usually looking for the "ideal" candidate. By all means, shoot for that individual, but remember if you cling too tightly to your ideal that person may well not exist. It’s important then to sort out the absolute "must haves" for the role from the “nice to haves”. This approach ensures you won’t have to compromise your hiring, but also gives you some flexibility, which will help given the tight labour market.

Other key considerations include:

  • What department requires the role?
  • How many people are in the department and where does this role fit with everyone else´s?
  • Who will the individual report to?
  • Is this a new role? Does it require different personality traits to others in the team?
  • What bigger areas is the new incumbent likely to contribute to or grow into?
  • The Ingredients: What goes in the job description?

The following is a simple template to guide you as to what information you need to gather and include for the job description:

Job title

This explains the type of professional you are hiring

Based at

Business Unit, Section — if applicable

Position reports to

Line Manager title, location, and Functional Manager, location if matrix management structure)

Job Purpose Summary Ideally one sentence
Key responsibilities and accountabilities

Ideally 8—12 items)

Main responsibilities

Outlines the most important duties

Secondary responsibilities

Periodic versus daily routines

Core competencies required

Skills and attributes required to perform the job well

Experience required

Number of years experience in general. Any experience required to perform the duties of this job. For example; industry specific experience (technology, consumer goods etc), role specific experience (PR/Media Relations, Copywriting etc.), team leadership experience and experience within a skill set (Public Speaking, Webinar Development, Lead Generation)

Qualifications or Educational background
Dimensions/Territory/Scope/Scale indicators

The areas to which responsibilities extend and the scale of responsibilities — staff, customers, territory, products, equipment, premises, etc)

Compensation and benefits
Date and other relevant internal references

© Sheila Carney of Vantage Resourcing. Used with permission.