How to write a job description

If the role you are looking to fill is a replacement for an existing member of staff, you have a head start because you probably only need to review and revamp a current job description.  However, if you are recruiting for a new role, it is very important to think it through first.  It may be quite straightforward and you decide now is the time to employ a Sales Administrator, or HR Officer, or Events Manager.  All well and good if you identify the overall responsibilities of such a role and then flesh out the duties. 

However, what can commonly happen in small organisations is that once having decided to recruit an additional member of your team, everyone in the office sees the opportunity to offload those parts of their own job they find less fulfilling. The result can be a mishmash of unrelated responsibilities heaped onto the new person's shoulders.  It is fine to ask an employee to undertake a comprehensive brief, ‘to turn their hand to what’s needed’ – but you need to think through what you want them to do and make sure there is an umbrella structure to the their job description. An Office Manager could be responsible for a wide range of activities that could be classed under the headings of Office Administration, Personal Assistant to Director, Reception, Bookkeeping, 1st Line IT, Marketing.

Writing a job description is an important exercise to go through before you start recruiting, as it will help you identify what you are looking for from the start.  Lack of forethought can lead to a recruiting debacle.  You will have wasted an enormous amount of time and resources if you only realise at interview stage that you have given the wrong brief and actually you want someone with rather different skills and experience.

The first thing to emphasise is that a job description is NOT a long list of tasks.  It is a summary of the main responsibilities of the job and an outline of the skills and experience that you require.  A logical, concise and sensible job description says as much about your company as a competent, targeted CV says about a candidate.

If you have it right on the job description, you can use this as your check list to evaluate the applications and form the basis for your interview questions.

Job description basics

Consider the elements that make up a job description and incorporate them all.

Job Title

The job title comes first for a reason.  It should sum up the job as accurately as possible. Sales Administrator, or Team Administrator is better than Administrator.  

Conditions of Employment

You need to show location; salary or range; type of contract (permanent, temporary, fixed term); hours (35 hour week, 37.5 hour week) and whether full or part time; holiday entitlement; benefit package and if there's a bonus structure.

The Organisation

Overview of the company or charity –  write a short, pithy summary of two – four sentences. Include an indication of size and possibly turnover (particularly if it is a finance role).  An outline of the post’s reporting hierarchy is useful.

Main Purpose or Overall Responsibilities

Write a short summary (say three bullet points) of the main purpose or overall responsibilities of the job

Key Responsibilities

If the job has more than one area of responsibility, group under headings.  Remember this is not an exhaustive list of everything the person will ever do, but the key duties.

Competencies

Your organisation may have identified some core competencies that every employee must contribute at specific levels. Or you may allocate some to a particular job. They are usually devised by the human resources department and will recognise the behaviours or personal attributes or ‘qualities’ of the individual. Examples could be communication skills, problem solving, analytical skills, people management, creative thinking, effective team work, organisational ability. 

Person Specification

This section sums up the person you are looking for and can be constructed in different ways.  You could split it into Skills, Experience and Knowledge sections, and further subdivide it into Essentials and Desirables.  It should include the specific qualifications and/or education that are required, the type of experience, particular skills, and personal attributes. 

 

Agewise is always happy to give preliminary advice about drawing up a job description.  Email us or call us on 020 8747 0410 to find out how Agewise can help you with your recruitment needs.