Are you serious about recruiting a new staff member in the coming months? If so, now is the time to start working on it, and a current job description is an absolute must.
The job description is the most important place to start when recruiting for an employee and, if it’s well written, it can indeed mean that you recruit the right candidate. By being precise when describing the job’s requirements, you will avoid making mistakes.
To improve this process even more, here are a few guidelines:
Analyze the job before you start writing
By putting the description down on paper, you may discover that a certain position does not actually need to be filled by someone on a full-time basis. Is it possible to share the tasks amongst employees already working at the company? If you have decided that you really do need someone for the job, identify the essential tasks and responsibilities.
Avoid the most common mistakes
One of the most frequent missteps that managers make is simply drawing up a shopping list of tasks without actually looking at the position in detail.
To avoid this, ask yourself these questions:
Employment criteria
Based on your answers to the above questions, determine the criteria for the job – the mixture of functional qualifications, skills and character traits that the candidate must have to successfully fulfill the position.
Try not to confuse qualifications, skills and personal characteristics with one another, because there are subtle differences to each:
Defining the job description
You can now start to write the job description. Don’t forget that the job description is not merely used to attract the best candidate, but also to evaluate other candidates for the job. In general, the job description should be practical, functional and clear.
It should include:
Salary
The salary is an important consideration and needs to be determined based on a number of factors. These include the education and experience required, along with the general salary levels within your organization, department or area. Internal equity within the organization and external equity with similar roles with competitors or similar roles or organizations also need to be considered.
Finally, take the time to define the job clearly before filling the position.
This is a much better approach than finding yourself with a candidate who does not fit your requirements.