Are you serious about recruiting some new human resources in the coming months? If yes, now is the right time to start the ball rolling, and an excellent job description is going to be an absolute must. In fact, this is the most vital stuff to begin working with in the recruitment process and, if written well, it can indeed mean that you employ the right candidate(s). By being exact when describing a position’s requirements, you will avoid making mistakes.

Here are a few guidelines to improve this procedure and to write a job description in less than 10 minutes:

Analyse the position before you begin writing

By putting a brief description down on paper, you may learn that a certain vacancy does not necessarily need to be filled by someone on a full-time basis. You may also consider whether it is possible to delegate the tasks involved in this position amongst employees already working in the organisation? If you do decide that you really need someone for the position, then start by identifying the responsibilities and tasks involved.

Avoid most common mistakes

According to Kevin Chen, Exec. HR Manager at People Innovations a Recruitment Agency headquartered in Melbourne, one amongst the most regular missteps that managers take is drawing up a shopping list of various tasks simply without looking at the position’s requirements thoroughly.
To avoid this mistake, ask yourself the following questions:

• What will constitute the important tasks for the employee?
• What tasks have the highest priority amongst the range of duties involved?
• What will be the actual line of reporting for the employee, and to whom?
• If the vacancy is for a managerial role, then what will be the degree of the delegated authority?
• What will be the employee’s targets & key deliverables?

Employment criteria

Depending on your answers to the above questions, decide on the job criteria – a good blend of skills, functional qualifications, and character traits that the candidate needs to possess to fulfil the requirements of the position successfully.
Try to not confuse qualifications, personal characteristics and skills with one another, as there are delicate differences between each of them.

Defining job description

Provided you are confident about the above, you can now start writing the job description. Just remember that this job description will not be merely used to attract the best candidate; but also to assess other potential candidates for this job.

A job description should be practical, clear and functional.

Finally, a job description should be practical, clear and functional.
It must include:

• The job title, department and person to whom the employee will report.
• The characteristics required to be a good cultural fit for the organisation.
• Employee’s responsibilities: what does the position involve and what is the aim of the position?
• Key responsibilities and tasks.
• Skills that the ideal candidate must possess. For instance: ‘suited to lead a team,’ ‘a good time manager’, or ‘capable of working independently and in a team’.