Writing Job Descriptions

A good job description begins with a careful analysis of the important facts about a job--such as the individual tasks involved, the methods used to complete the tasks, the purpose and responsibilities of the job, the relationship of the job to other jobs, and the qualifications needed for the job.

It's important when writing job descriptions, to create a vision that is dynamic,functional and current. Don't get stuck with an inflexible job description!

Apoor job description will keep you and your employees from trying anything newand learning how to perform their job more productively. A well-written,practical job description will help you avoid hearing a refusal to carry out arelevant assignment because "it isn't in my job description."

Realistically speaking, many jobs are subject to change, due either topersonal growth, organizational development and/or the evolution of newtechnologies. Flexible job descriptions will encourage your employees to growwithin their positions and learn how to make larger contributions to yourcompany.

For example: Is your office manager stuck "routinely orderingoffice supplies for the company and keeping the storage closet well stocked" or is she/he "developing and implementing a system of orderingoffice supplies that promotes cost savings and efficiency within theorganization?"

When writing job descriptions, keep in mind that the job description willserve as a major basis for outlining job training or conducting future jobevaluations. 

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Writing Job Descriptions - each job description should include a:

• Job Title
  

• Job Objective or Overall Purpose Statement - This statement is generally a summary designed to orient the reader to the general nature, level, purpose and objective of the job. The summary should describe the broad function and scope of the position and be no longer than three to four sentences.
  

• List of Duties or Tasks Performed - The list contains an item by item list of principal duties, continuing responsibilities and accountability of the occupant of the position. The list should contain each and every essential job duty or responsibility that is critical to the successful performance of the job. The list should begin with the most important functional and relational responsibilities and continue down in order of significance. Each duty or responsibility that comprises at least five percent of the incumbent's time should be included in the list.
  

• Description of the Relationships and Roles the occupant of the position holds within the company, including any supervisory positions, subordinating roles and/or other working relationships.
  

When writing job descriptions for recruiting situations, you may also want toattach the following:  

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• Job Specifications, Standards and Requirements - the minimum qualifications needed to perform the essential functions of the job such as education, experience, knowledge and skills. Any critical skills and expertise needed for the job should be included. For example, for a receptionist, critical skills may be having 1) a professional and courteous telephone manner, 2) legible hand-writing if messages are to be taken 3) the ability to handle a multiple-lined phone system for a number of staff members and 4) the patience and endurance to sit behind a desk all day.
  

• Job Location - where the work will be performed
  

• Equipment to be used in the performance of the job. For example, does your company's computers run in a Apple MacIntosh or PC Windows environment?
  

• Collective Bargaining Agreements - agreements and terms that relate to job functions, if applicable, such as when your company's employees are members of a union.
  

• Non-Essential Functions - functions which are not essential to the position or any marginal tasks performed by the incumbent of the position.
  

• Salary Range - range of pay for the position.
  

When writing job descriptions, keep each statement in the job description crisp and clear.

• Structure your sentences in classic verb/object and explanatory phrases. Since the occupant of the job is your sentences' implied subject, it may be eliminated. For example, a sentence pertaining to the description of a receptionist position might read: "Greets office visitors and personnel in a friendly and sincere manner."
  

• Always use the present tense of verbs when writing job descriptions
  

• If necessary, use explanatory phrases telling why, how, where or how often to add meaning and clarity. For example: "Collects all employee time-sheets on a bi-weekly basis for payroll purposes."
  

• Omit any unnecessary articles such as "a", "an", "the" or other words for an easy to understand, straight to the point definition when writing job descriptions. Using the above example, the statement could have read, "Greets all visitors and the office personnel to the building in a friendly and a sincere manner."
  

• Use un-biased terminology. For example: use the "he/she" approach or construct sentences in such as way that gender pronouns are not required.
  

Avoid using words which are subject to differing interpretations. Try not to use words such as "frequently," "some," "complex," "occasional," and "several."

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At the Job Interview, Your Behavior Outweighs Your Answers

Nancy prepared long and hard for her job interview. She researched the company, studied the job description, developed and practiced answers for likely questions, dressed appropriately, and arrived early. She really needed the job!

At the job interview, Nancy answered every question well.

Unfortunately, her behavior sabotaged her performance. 

When introduced to the interviewer, she said, “Thank you so much for seeing me. I really need this job.” After answering one of the questions, she added, “I hope I answered that sufficiently for you. I really need this job.” As the interview was ending, the last thing she said was, “Thank you for the opportunity to interview for this job. I really need it!”

Nancy, like many other job candidates, believed that letting the interview know she really needed the job would help her to get it.

But that’s not true. 

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As a matter of fact, being “too desperate” for the job is one of the most common reasons hiring managers will reject you, regardless of your qualifications. If they know how desperate you are, they will wonder to what lengths you will go to get the job—would you exaggerate on your résumé or lie during the interview? You don’t want them wondering about things like that. Be enthusiastic about the opportunity, but don’t be a “Needy Nancy.”

Here are six other behaviors to avoid during job interviews (despite the names, all behaviors apply to both men and women):

“Overly Familiar Fred” behaves like he’s best buddies with male interviewers, and flirts with female interviewers. He’ll smile, wink, joke around and try to come across as God’s gift to the hiring manager. It’s OK to be friendly and charming to a point, but there’s a line you should never cross. Professionalism is paramount. Don’t be an “Overly Familiar Fred.”

“Aimless Amy” behaves like she wants a job… and any job will do. It’s obvious to hiring managers that she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. Be prepared to communicate clear career goals and give compelling reasons why you want the specific job for which you are interviewing. Don’t be an “Aimless Amy.” 

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“Rambling Randy” behaves like he’s trying to win a talking contest. He goes on and on, telling personal stories and getting completely away from the point of the question. Listening is as important as talking. Don’t talk just to fill a temporary silence from the interviewer. Stories are good, but they should be relevant and brief. Don’t be a “Rambling Randy.”

“Emotional Emma” lets her feelings interfere with her performance. If a tricky interviewer insults her appearance or skills to gauge her reaction, she’ll become visibly upset—perhaps even burst into tears or hurl insults back at the interviewer. If you have a temper or cry easily—or tend to get overly nervous—focus on remaining calm during the interview, no matter what. I’m not saying you should hide all emotions; no one wants to hire a robot. Let your personality show. But don’t be an “Emotional Emma.”

“Arrogant Andy” behaves like he’s doing the hiring manager a favor by coming in for an interview. He speaks in a condescending tone when answering questions he feels are beneath him. He enjoys bragging about his accomplishments, never mentioning team efforts. He is confident that his qualifications are far superior to those of other candidates. He’s sure the interview is just a formality, and believes the job is his if he really wants it. No matter how qualified you are, it’s more important to be likeable. No one will hire an egotistical jerk. Don’t be an “Arrogant Andy.”

“Timid Tina” behaves like she’s afraid to be noticed. She avoids eye contact, speaks in a quiet voice, answers questions with the fewest words possible, and rarely smiles. When asked if she has any questions as the interview winds down, she quickly says “No,” and looks longingly at the door, eager to escape. Many people are shy; very few people enjoy being interviewed. But no matter how desperately you wish someone would hire you based solely on your résumé, it’s not going to happen—you’ll have to talk your way into the job. Force yourself to show confidence and enthusiasm. After all, you have a lot to offer! You can’t offer anyone anything if you’re afraid to be noticed. Don’t be a “Timid Tina.” 

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Job Interviews Can Be a Real Bore

I'm sorry, but job interviews can be a real bore. If you get an interview with a company and have four people to meet, the odds are that two of those interviews will be boring. What do I mean by boring? Well, there are a lot of people asked to interview who don't do it very often and don't really know what to ask. There are also those that are so scripted that the candidate is forced to fall back on answers that are also scripted. If the interviewer was nervous or unsure going into the meeting and remained that way through until the end, you will be blamed for it.

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Boring interviews end up in a cycle of generic interaction that leads the interviewer to neither like you or dislike you. In the post-interview meeting that most companies have, you will likely not stand out. Instead, as you are peeling off your business suit or scraping off your fancy interview shoes, you are being described as "OK", "good gal/guy" or "capable". Not very inspiring for the hiring manager and not much cover if he/she wants to make you an offer.

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Whether your fault or not, you have not broken through to this interviewer. Because the interview was uneventful, even if the fault of the interviewer, you are going to pay the price.

So how can you turn a boring interview into a memorable one?

Turn the discussion around to focus on the interviewer.

In some cases, this will be a relief. They were not comfortable asking questions anyway. In other cases, they will love the idea of sharing a success or describing a key project that they led.

Yes, you have to take over. But you have to be careful. Each interviewer is different and may require a different style of takeover. Sometimes one question from you can change the entire structure of the interview, make it more personal and provide the opening for you to become more than just one of five candidates being seen that day.

How about some ideas, you say?

1. Ask the first question and keep asking.

Here's an easy one: How long have you been with (COMPANY)? Kicks off the interview as conversational and sets the tone a bit. If you sense that the interviewer likes talking, ask additional questions to better understand his/her role in the company and what influence they may have on the position in question. Once you've established a more conversational format, you can introduce key points about yourself with more precision.

2. Ask a personal question that focuses attention on the interviewer in a positive way.

"What have been your best moments here at (COMPANY)?" This allows them to share something with you and allows you to follow-up in a number of different ways. If the response is that the interviewer was critical in the installation of a new piece of plant equipment, ask him to show it to you. Oh, how an interview changes when you can get up, walk around and get conversational. You are now building a relationship and having an impact. And, by the way, everyone else you are interviewing with sees you on your walk - you look to be getting special treatment, right?

3. Ask questions to introduce your key and unique skills.

Ask a question like: Do you have a system to consistently guarantee new products will launch on time? After they answer, you are free to describe your skills here and cement yourself as someone who can make a quick and substantial positive impact. Be careful not to ask questions that could potentially embarrass an interviewer or force them to look less than strategic.

Now I hear some of you saying: "Hey, I'm thankful for every interview I can get. I need interviews, boring or not to get myself back in business!". I hear you. In times when interviews are hard to come by, your ability to make a really positive and obvious impact is crucial. You want the interview team to come in to the candidate review meeting with words like "wow", "I could see him starting here tomorrow", "that's the one we need". And those reactions won't come from a team of four when two of the four are asking standard questions and getting acceptable, standard answers. Don't wait until the end to ask your questions. You may run out of time and, for sure, you will not stand out. > employee  

Competency-Based Interviews: 5 Steps to Success!

Competency-based interviews are intended to get the best from you, the candidate, whilst also fulfilling the needs of the organization to get the very best person for the job. There are some easy steps to make the most of yourself and have a much better chance of success.

Prepare well, but keep it sensible

As long as you know the job you are going for, ask for details of what you will be measured against. Ask for a set of competencies. Ask for a job description. This sets you up to succeed, not just because you are better informed, but also because you have asked - which will impress the decision-makers, before you even get there! 

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1. Get Creative Here is the time to use your own experiences to create 'stories' which you can use in the actual interview. These 'stories' are real scenarios that you have been a part of, which over a period of days and weeks beforehand, you write up. Maybe you will have 20+ initial ideas.
2. Leverage! Take the very best scenarios and write them out, bullet points first. Then flesh them out, whilst referring carefully to the competencies you've been given. It is amazing how you can 'tune-in' your scenario to include many, if not all of the competencies. And if you can't fit them all in, there will be a use for them - later!
3. Practice By reading through your scenarios (and by now you should not have more than six or seven) you will familiarise yourself with the contents, so well, that they will become second nature - even in the scary experience of an interview.
4. In the Interview There are some tactics in here too!
   
   • Using your scenarios make just three key points about what you've been asked. Make them relevant and the right 'weight'. Not too long or too short.
   • After that, leave space for them to ask more - that's what they are listening for.
   • Say 'I' a lot - they want to know what your personal involvement and experience was, not 'the team' or 'they'.
   • Have fun - whilst not contrived, smile and make some simple jokes, if you feel comfortable with that - they want to employ happy as well as capable people.
   • Can't answer? That's fine. Make sure that you reflect on your shortcomings by saying things like, 'It's one of the first things I want to develop in my next job - if you did your stuff on your scenarios and your competencies well enough, you will have covered 90% of the bases well and you'll be forgiven for not being 'perfect'. If you are really stumped - say so!
   • Ask questions - relevant, about their culture, focus on developing you, opportunities - the positive 'peopley' things (remember it's your chance to see if you want to work with them!).
   • Also ask about current issues they may be facing - you did do your homework on them, didn't you?
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5. Strong Ending!Keep the whole thing light, even as you leave at the end. Have a conversation in general terms - about anything! Do make sure that you ask them some things that are about them - they will love it if you ask them some open (what, how, when, where, who) general questions about your new job! About something nice in the building or their clothes - take as it comes and do what feels comfortable!
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