Steps
- Include all the necessary information that a potential employee should know before starting the job. Generally, this will include:
- Job title.
- Job objective. This statement orients the seeker to the general nature, level, purpose, and objective of the job. It serves as a broad introduction to the job, and should be about three or four sentences in length.
- List of duties or tasks performed. This is where you get specific. Ideally, this section should be formatted as a list, explaining the duties and responsibilities expected to be performed in the position. You should include every responsibility that is necessary to a successful performance of the job. Begin the list with the most important tasks and end with the least significant. Keep in mind, however, that each task or responsibility on the list should comprise at least 5% of the incumbent's time.
- Job specification, standards, and requirements. Depending on the position advertised, some employers require a minimum amount of education, experience, knowledge, and skills. For example, for a graphic designer, critical skills might include expert proficiency in specified graphic design programs.
- Description of relationships and roles the seeker would hold within the company, including any positions involving supervisory tasks, subordinating roles, and other working relationships.
- Job location.
- Equipment to be used on the job, such as an Apple Macintosh or a PC Windows system.
- Salary range.
- Collective bargaining agreements that relate to the job functions, such as when employees are members of a union.
- Make the job description flexible. Flexible job descriptions will encourage your employees to grow within their positions and learn how to make larger contributions to the company. Allow opportunities for growth. For example, don't let your office manager routinely order supplies for the office to keep the supply cabinet full. Rather, pose the challenge of developing and implementing a system of ordering office supplies that promotes costs savings and efficiency.
- Structure your sentences in verb/object and explanatory phrases. The occupant of the job is your sentences' implied subject, so you can eliminate it. An example sentence may read, "Greets clients in a friendly manner."
- Use the present tense of verbs, as well as explanatory phrases that tell how, why, where, or how often for the purpose of adding clarity. Instead of stating, "Distributes questionnaires," clarify the duty by writing, "Distributes all questionnaires to develop a comprehensive database of feedback from customers."
- Be concise and omit unnecessary articles such as "a," "an," "the," or any other words that may detract from the readability of the description. To illustrate, the above example could have read, "Distributes questionnaires to develop customer feedback database."
- Choose terminology that is unbiased with regard to gender. A good example is to use "he/she" instead of "he" or "she," or better yet, construct sentences that do not require gender pronouns at all.
- Avoid using words that are open to multiple interpretations. The key is to be exact and to the point. The reader should understand very clearly what is expected from the position. Some of these ambiguous words are:
- some
- complex
- frequently
- occasional
- several
Sources and Citations
- Small Business Administration-- Original source. Public domain (U.S. Government Work)
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