How to Write a Job Description

Introduction

Writing an effective job description helps you to market your company and attract the attention of potentially qualified candidates for the job. The key to writing a compelling job description is to add sufficient details so that the reader would fully understand the roles and responsibilities while keeping the content concise. You have to find a balance between the details and the conciseness. Today, we’ll discuss how to write a job description.

What is a Job Description?

A job description is the summary of the title, duties, activities, responsibilities, skill, and qualification that a person should have in order to perform the role. It also comprises others details like salary & benefits, culture, company mission, and working conditions that the company offers to its employees.

The job description should provide sufficient information for the readers so that they would find whether they’re on the criteria or not. According to an estimate, 52% of job seekers say that the quality and compelling of the job description impact their decision to apply for the job. However, the JD shouldn’t provide minor details like how/when/what to perform the job; it gives the company flexibility to make changes.

The supervisor and the employees collaborate in order to write the job description, and it requires the approval of the supervisor.

It’s time to discuss the component of the job description and how to write a job description. Some of the main elements of the job description are as follows;

Job Title

The job title is a short description of the work relevant to the scope of the job, purpose, and content. It should be brief, precise, and correctly describe the role. According to an estimate, 36% of job seekers search for jobs with a specific job title. Some of the main job titles are;

Manager Custodial Services
Manager Desktop Services
Instructional Designer
Budget Analyst
Grant Accountant
Facilities Planner
Director of Student Health Services
Associate Registrar
Associate Director Disability Services
Archivist

Summary & Job Purpose

Job summary or job purpose is an overview of the company, roles & responsibilities, company’s expectations, and roles and responsibilities. It’s to give an idea why the company is offering the job.

Duties & Responsibilities

It comprises of roles and responsibilities attached to the job and the main functions that the potential candidate has to perform. Some of the main elements that would occupy the employee’s time that you should consider are as follows;

List of responsibilities required by the job and has nothing to do with the candidates’ capabilities
Nature of contact and interaction with other people inside and outside the workplace
Type and level of financial and budgetary responsibilities
Recognize Direct & Indirect responsibilities
Decision-making areas that impacting
Your focus should be on the conclusion of the role
Explain the functionality of the job by answering with how/why/where/when

Management/Supervisory Responsibilities

If the role has management and supervising authorizes like performance evaluation of the subordinates, training, assigning work, termination authority, checking and maintaining discipline, and hiring decision. You should make it clear whether supervising responsibilities are an additional job or part of an existing job. Some of the different levels of supervision are as follows;

Managing people/subordinates through supervisor
Termination decision, demotion, transfer, promotion, salary increment, evaluating performance, scheduling and assigning work, hiring, supervising staff
Assisting in problem-solving, hiring, training, supervision, assigning work, and checking the daily operations of the staff
Giving directions to the work relevant to the job

Qualification

The qualification a person must have to take the role in terms of skill, knowledge, abilities, experience, and education level. Some of the main elements in the required qualification that you should keep in mind are;

Education

The minimum education is relevant to the job functions that a person must have in order to perform the job. You can declare the educational qualification in terms of degree, schooling, or the certificate that a candidate should have to qualify for the job.

Experience

It means the work experience of a certain time duration the qualifying candidate must have in performing a certain role. You should also make it clear in the job description what type of experience your company is accepting like graduating assistantship, undergraduate work experience, graduate work experience, on-the-job experience, or internship.

Knowledge

If you require knowledge of a certain field, then you should specify what degree of knowledge you’re looking for among candidates. Some of the main categories of knowledge are as follows;

Comprehensive knowledge: it means that the candidate has an understanding and mastery of the field. The recruiters use this term when they have to find new approaches, concepts, and hypotheses.
Thorough knowledge: it means advanced knowledge of the field so that the candidate would be able to solve common and unusual problems of the field, offering services as a specialist on the subject in the organization, and offering expertise in technical matters.
General knowledge: it requires sufficient knowledge of the field relevant to the job; it’s for the standard situation of the work that requires a standard knowledge
Working knowledge: sufficient familiarity with the subject and know the basic terminology and principles in order to solve problems.

Skill & Capabilities

Some companies require a list of skills, expertise, and capabilities for the candidates along with the training, certificates, and degrees. Some of the main skills are;

Teamwork
Supervision
Project management
Problem-solving
Negotiation
Logical thinking
Multitasking
Diversity
Decision making
Customer service
Creative thinking
Computer
Communication
Budget exposure
Analyst

Preferred Qualification

Along with the required qualification and a list of skills and expertise, preferred qualifications would help the company to hire the most suitable and productive candidate for the job. However, preferred qualification doesn’t include the daily routine life functions of the job. It can also on the education, experience, skill, expertise, and knowledge if needed.

Working Conditions

According to an estimate, 72% of the job seekers say that they would like to read the working condition and company culture in the job description. You should provide a job description in terms of how much, how often, and how long the job would require mental and physical exertion. According to the American Disabilities Act, physical demand and working conditions are directly relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the job. You should consider adding these;

Emergency designation of staff
Travel requirement
Clearly mention that Work weekends, nights, and on-call notice are part of the job
Physical work and lifting in pounds units
Mandatory physical requirements like typing, stooping, standing, climbing, etc.
Extreme working conditions like heat/cold, loud noise, hazardous material, etc.
A working environment like an indoor, outdoor, office, fieldwork, etc.

Salary & Benefits

According to a study, 70% of job seekers say that they look for the salary information in the job description. The salary information helps them to compare the work with their needs whether they should take accept the job or not. Most importantly, it helps you to attract the best candidate for the job. Some of the benefits you can include in the job description are;

Dog-friendly office
Tuition reimbursement
Office snacks
Medical and dental coverage
Flexible hours
Unlimited PTO

Tips for Writing a Job Description

Some of the main tips that you should keep in mind while writing your job description are as follows;

Follow the direct style and be concise
Use simple words, simple sentence structure, and short JD for easy comprehension
Use present tense
Avoid using acronyms and abbreviations that people aren’t familiar with
Avoid using ambiguous terms like perform, handle, assist, etc.
Use specific and focused words like manage, charge, responsible, etc.
Be specific about the gender
Focus on the mandatory activities
Use the job title and department name while referring to someone
Mention only the active duties

Conclusion: How to write a job description

After an in-depth study of how to write a job description, we’ve concluded that writing a compelling job description is significant in the recruitment process. If you want to write an effect JD, then follow and practice the abovementioned suggestions and format.