Tips on Job Descriptions

1. An accurate job description clarifies the expectations of a job, and whether a candidate’s qualifications meet the requirements of the position.

A job description should outline skills, knowledge, abilities and experience needed by a potential employee so applicants can determine whether there is a match between the job’s requirements and their own expertise. For example, if a minimum of three years’ experience is specified, people with less than three years of work experience need not apply. The key components of good job descriptions are job title, statement of purpose and objective, reporting structure, duties and responsibilities. In other words: essential function, qualification, working condition and disclaimer.

Typical disclaimers are:

• The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.

• This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee. It is used as a guide for personnel actions and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.

2. Job descriptions can be the foundation for creating job advertisements.

Once you have a job description, you can create the job advertisement using the statement of purpose and qualifications as the main body of the advertisement.

For example, this advertisement was created by borrowing the statement of purpose and the qualifications from the job description for a Senior Administrative Assistant.

“The Senior Administrative Assistant performs complex and diverse duties in support of a work area or group of individuals. This position provides advanced administrative support for multiple programs and projects, and may also function as a high-level individual contributor or coordinator of multiple projects.

QUALIFICATIONS:

– High School diploma or GED

– Minimum of 5 years’ secretarial, office, or related experience

– Bachelor degree preferred

– Functional knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access required”

source: http://hrweb.mit.edu/compensation/job-descriptions/generic-job-descriptions

 

 

3. Job descriptions can serve as a very good place to start when developing interview questions.

Once you have a job description, you can develop interview questions based on the essential functions, job responsibilities and skills by asking the candidates how they have performed these types of tasks in their past positions. For example, listed below are some essential functions and related questions:

Essential Functions for a human resources director:

• Develop, evaluate and administer human resource policies and procedures for all departments; review and evaluate the effectiveness of programs and services provided by the department.

• Oversee, supervise and perform recruiting services including: Placing advertisements, revising job descriptions, receiving and recording applications, reviewing applications for minimum standards, conducting and monitoring written or oral testing procedure for administrative and clerical positions, scheduling interviews, ensuring background investigations are complete, informing applicants of status of their applications through letters, setting up oral panels.

Related questions:

• Describe a modification you made to a human resource policy or procedures for departments that made your program more competitive or cost effective.

• Can you give an example of a recruitment that was difficult because you knew you wouldn’t get a lot of applicants? How did you reach out to promote the position and find qualified candidates?

 

4. Job descriptions can be used as the basis for training and career growth.

Job descriptions list the qualifications and certifications required for each position. For example, if a Social Worker I employee is interested in moving up in the organization, he or she can look at the job description for the next level position, Social Worker Supervisor. By reviewing the qualifications of the higher position, employees can determine the education, training and certification that may be required to move up. Career paths can also be illustrated by reviewing the titles of positions such as Analyst I to Analyst II and Analyst III. This information encourages employees to know they are not stuck in a position and they can be promoted if they are interested and qualified.

 

5. Job descriptions help to develop performance standards and set performance goals for performance review.

Examples of job description responsibilities are listed below, along with how they would be interpreted into performance goals that would be evaluated during an employee’s performance review.

Essential functions for a customer service representative:

• Answers customer requests or inquiries concerning services, products, billing, claims and reports problem areas via phone, email, mail or social media.

• Responsible for improving customer retention through programs and service provided to the customer.

Performance goals:

• Improve customer satisfaction by 90% by the end of the year, as determined by customer satisfaction surveys.

• Reduce customer complaints about customer service by 20% by the end of this year.

6. Job descriptions help to develop equitable and competitive compensation programs according to the skills, experience and abilities needed for the positions.

The job description describes the level of skills, responsibilities, accountability, experience and education. All of these factors determine the level of the position in relation to other positions and, therefore, the level of compensation. For example, in a point-factor job evaluation system, each job is evaluated based on compensable factors to determine the relative worth of one job to another and the appropriate pay level. Compensable factors usually encompass four categories, including skills (experience, education/training, ability), responsibility (supervisory, fiscal), efforts (mental, physical) and working conditions (location, hazards, physical demand, extremes in environment). In a word, job descriptions are the basis of job evaluation and pay structure.

7. Job descriptions should be accurate and legally compliant to provide legal defense against discrimination.

State and federal laws prohibit employment discrimination. Some laws that all employers should consider when writing job descriptions include:

• Fair Labor Standards Act – Job descriptions should indicate whether the position is non-exempt or exempt; in other words, subject to overtime or not subject to overtime, respectively.

• Americans with Disabilities Act – Job descriptions should only include physical restrictions that are essential functions of that position. For example, one cannot ask a secretary to lift more than 50 pounds just because there may be a file box that is more than 50 pounds. Lifting heavy items is not an essential function for the secretary, and should instead be part of the custodian’s position.

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Job descriptions should not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability (including pregnancy), genetic information and citizenship status. For example, a job description should not indicate that only a male or female can fill the position.

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act – Job descriptions should not indicate an age limitation on the position. Anyone who can meet the essential functions of the job should be eligible for the position.

8. Job descriptions should be kept up to date to ensure they reflect any substantive changes in the key duties.

If the job description is not kept up to date, then when it is time to recruit for a new employee, job advertisements will not reflect the organization’s actual requirements. It is important to update the job description while there is an employee—and a supervisor—available to verify the new responsibilities. If there is a vacancy, this is a good time to update or rewrite the current job description so it aligns with any new goals and objectives of the firm.

For example, the employer may have decided that the position is more technologically oriented and they hire a person who already has that skillset. The job description will need to be updated to accommodate this required skill.

9. Job descriptions should be clear and precise, both in language and description.

Acronyms and abbreviations should be defined. Write job descriptions so someone outside of the company can understand them.

Poor example: “Knowledge of the budget process.”

Good example: “Experience with monitoring and reconciling monthly ledger activity.”

Here’s a glossary of terms that can help make a job description concise:

http://hrweb.mit check out this site.edu/compensation/job-descriptions/glossary-terms

10. A job description can be helpful if a company has a non-performing employee.

An accurate job description can be the basis of performance documentation and add credence to terminating an employee who is not meeting his or her essential job functions. This can be particularly beneficial if the terminated employee tries to bring a discrimination or wrongful termination case to court. The employer then has documentation supported by the job description showing that the employee had not been meeting the essential job functions clearly stated in the employee’s job description.

For example, perhaps a customer service representative does not report problem areas and simply ignores them. Since “reports problem areas via phone, email, mail or social media” has been described as an essential job function in the job description, this customer service representative’s manager can develop the documentation that will support disciplinary action or termination of that employee. If the terminated employee fights the termination, the employer can point to the job description in asserting why that employee was fired, and provide the written documentation.