How To Write Job Descriptions
Not many companies may realize it but job descriptions are very important. It gives the applicants an idea of what their jobs would be, making them more interested in applying. Also, this is a good way of filtering your applicants since this will give them an idea of what they will be doing and what is asked from them.
A good job description should concise, informative and practical. It should contain all the vital information that applicants would need to know to let them feel that this is the job for them. A job description contains 3 major parts, the title of the job position, the overall responsibility, and the qualifications. This will be a good outline to follow for writing your job description.
- Write an outline of the job responsibility. List down all the specific duties and task of the job. This can still be in bullet form because this will serve as your rough draft. Ask an employee doing the job or have previously done the job what the job requires to make it easier. Take your time to give this some thought to make sure that you cover everything.
- List down the qualifications for the job. Once you have a clear idea of what the job is all about, you can easily determine the qualifications that an applicant should have. Write the specifics skills and other qualifications that will be needed to complete the job.
- Start writing the job description. Once you have an idea of what to write, you can now start writing the job description. Start with the job title first then the first paragraph should be the job responsibility. Since you already have an outline of that, it will be easier for you to turn your outline into a concise yet comprehensive paragraph. Once you're done with the job responsibilities, you can proceed writing the job qualifications. Again, use your outline to write this part. This area doesn't have to be in paragraph form, you can use bullets for this part.
- Write other vital information. Once you're done writing the 3 major parts, you could insert other information that you think the applicants should know. You can write if the job is full-time or part-time or there are other certifications that they need. This will serve as the summary of your job description.
- Review what you wrote. Once you're done writing everything, go over what you wrote. Check for misspelled words or grammatical errors and correct it. Also, put yourself in the applicant's shoes. Would you be interested in applying when you read the job description? If you're not that happy with it then you can still do some minor adjustments to make it more appealing. If you're already happy with it, you print it out or post it over the Internet to invite the applicants to apply.
Writing a job description isn't that difficult as long as you have an idea of what you'll be writing. That is why when you are writing a job description it is best to make sure to be clear on responsibilities of the job for it to be useful and informative to the applicants.
