Great Job Descriptions | Leila’s House of Corrections

Hiring a new employee? So eager to get that new person onboard that you posted a bare bones job description? If so, you ve made a classic rush to hire mistake: ignoring the value of a well written job description.  Come on managers, it s time to   write a great job description.

Job descriptions sound so fundamental that many managers spend little time on this step or even disregard it. Yet this is where the hiring process begins: stating the exact skills and competencies for the role. The clearer the job description, the better qualified the applicant pool. Cast a small net, not a wide one.

So when writing a job description, consider these tips.

Tip #1: Be accurate and avoid exaggerations.

Describe the position as it is now not what it might develop into once a qualified candidate excels in the role and gets promoted. In addition, avoid title inflation. Be accurate and honest. If someone joins your company because of the great title, he is joining on false pretenses.

Tip #2: List hard skills.

Hard skills are tangible and measurable. Create a list of roughly 10 primary tasks, no more. Then use words that describe exactly what the employee will be doing--verbs like analyze, assist, engineer, design, program, sell, or write. Describe exactly what you need. 

Tip #3: List soft skills or competences.

Soft skills tend to be intangible and hard to measure. They express how we do something the behaviors we use. Pick 3-5 competencies for this position, no more. Soft skills include communication, initiative, leadership, strategic planning, and teamwork.

Tip #4: Be specific.     

The more details the better. Instead of using a generic phrase like  good communication skills,  you could say  creates and delivers stand-up presentations to large groups (50-100 people), weekly.   This describes exactly what you re looking for.

Tip #5: Be realistic when it comes to education, work experience, and certifications.

If you require a certain amount of experience, then state it. If a degree is a prerequisite, state it. If not, consider flexibility in this area.  Finding the ideal candidate is hard, so you may need to sacrifice some of your requirements in order to find the best person for the role.

Finally, no matter how well you write a job description and how accurately you describe tasks, things change.

And that s why you need to include the phrase,  And other duties as assigned.