Three Things Every Job Description Needs
How to write a job description is something they should teach every manager, or at least the ones responsibile for writing job descriptions. It’s not that difficult. When you break it down, there are only three things every job description needs.
I worked as a headhunter for almost thirty-five years, and I saw many job descriptions from many companies. The one thing they had in common was—the majority of them were terrible. I think i can count on one hand the job descriptions that met the requirements for good job descriptions.
What Makes a Good Job Description?
It’s probably easier to list what doesn’t make one, or what makes a bad one, but we’ll give it a shot anyway. By the way, if you want ot know what makes a bad one, read this blog.
Knowing how to write a job description requires some thought. You can’t just pull a previously written job description from the archives and re-use it, even if you update it. You don’t want to be tainted by what was written before.
If it’s a job that needs filling, it’s important—important enough for you to spend time doing it right. There are a lot of minor things you need to know, but the three main things are these:
Three Things Every Job Description Needs
- You obviously need to list what needs to be done, but don’t list them as responsibilities—list them as challenges.
Don’t say “responsible for building new sales territory, covering more than two million potential customers.” Instead, say it something like:
“Ready for your next challenge? XYZ Company has an opportunity for an ambitious sales rep to introduce our company’s products to more than two million new customers.”
Responsibilites have no place on job descriptions just like they have no place on résumés. Responsibilites tell us nothing on résumés, and they sure as hell won’t attract the right people when your job description is filled with them.
I have yet to see the person who gets excited by the thought of being burdened with responsibilities. It would be like waking up and seeing a list of chores that have to be done on the kitchen table.
Challenges, on the other hand, do have the potential to fire people up. Throw a tough challenge at the right person and they’ll be champing at the bit. (And for those of you wondering, yes, it is champing at the bitnot chomping at the bit.)
And that’s exactly the kind of person you want—the one who is eager to take on the challenge. When you think of the three things every job description needs—a good challenge needs to be among them.
The Second Part of How to Write a Job Description
The second aspect of how to write a job description is simple. Convert the typical “requirements” for education and years of experience to explain what needs to be done, and therefore, what the successful candidate must be able to do.
So instead of saying “must have master’s degree in mechanical engineering and ten years in design of high-tolerance medical devices,” say “must demonstrate successful track record of designing high-tolerance medical devices (or similar products).” Thata makes up the second of the three things every job description needs.
The Final Hurdle
The third part of the three things every job description needs is as simple as the rest were—be transparent and honest. If part of the job will require the person to “fix” something or deal with a problem, tell the candidates about it in the job description. It may be embarrassing, but as long as it doesn’t reveal any company secrets, put it in the job description. Doing so may end up attracting the right person and ruling out the wrong one.
You want to attract people who may be interested in dealing with that problem, but if you don’t mention it, they’ll never know.
A good job description requires more than this, but these are three things every job description needs, and every one of them should have.
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Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes nonfiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series as well as books about grammar, publishing., and children’s fiction and nonfiction.
When Giacomo isn’t writing, he’s helping his wife take care of the animals on their sanctuary. At last count, they had forty animals—seven dogs, one horse, six cats, and twenty-five pigs.
Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who used to take walks with Giacomo every day.
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with forty loving “friends.”
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Thank you for sharing this valued article. “By writing and posting a job description, you can attract potential candidates to apply for the advertised job. Job descriptions can help you locate the best candidate. However, it can be a tough task writing down all your needs into a few sentences.”