What to Put in Job Descriptions

April 13, 2006

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There are as many different formats for job descriptions as there are jobs, but there are some basic pieces of information that most job descriptions have. Include them in yours, if you feel they are appropriate.

Available among the Business Tools is a sample job description form that you can use as a tool to assist you in writing your own job description. Keep in mind that there is no set form for a job description, and you can add and delete items in this form.

Job descriptions can include any or all of the following elements:

The date the job description was written. The job description should always be up to date. Rewrite it to reflect changes as often as needed. Good times to check the descriptions are when hiring someone new for the job or at an existing employee's performance appraisal or salary increase time.
Job status. Salaried or hourly? Full-time or part-time? Temporary or permanent?
Position title. Make sure your position titles reasonably and accurately reflect the actual title of the job. A job title shouldn't be inflated or pretentious if the job doesn't warrant it. For example, don't call a maintenance worker a "custodial consultant!"

There is nothing that says that a sex-based job title such as fireman, by itself is discriminatory. But if you're ever hauled into court for alleged discrimination, you're better off if all titles are gender-neutral. It's easy to do with some titles — like changing "fireman" to "fire fighter" or "stewardess" to "flight attendant." If you're having trouble making a title gender-neutral, you might try consulting the Dictionary of Job Titles, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.

Job summary. This section should contain a brief summary of the information found in more detail elsewhere in the description. A summary shouldn't be more than a few sentences long and should explain the main purposes and functions of the job.
Detailed duties and responsibilities. This is a more detailed description of the duties involved and separates the essential functions of the job from the incidental job functions for purposes of the ADA.
Skills required to perform the job. This can include compensable factors such as education, experience, and abilities.
Importance of job duties and tasks. Ranking the duties from most important to least important is a good way to convey this information since the task that consumes the most time is not necessarily the most important task. You can rank on a scale of one to 10, for example.
When and how often the tasks are performed. You might want to mention that certain tasks are only done once a month, quarter, year etc.
Job environment. Job environments can impact significantly on workers' motivation and job satisfaction. For example, it's a good idea to include in job descriptions factors like the fact that the work is done off-premises, or mention the existence of hazards, noises, physical proximity of other employees, and opportunities to communicate with other employees. Including these factors in the job description helps job applicants better understand the requirements of the job and helps you select the best candidate for the position.

If you will be allowing your employees to see written job descriptions, make sure that the last item in the list of job duties is something like "and any other task assigned by the supervisor." This gives you the freedom to change duties over time, and prevents employees from complaining "that task is not in my job description."

When you're writing your description, try to put some thought into how you see this position growing as your business grows. You don't want someone who can just do the job today but can't change and grow with the needs of the business. Think in terms of finding people with qualities and skills who can help your business reach its long-term goals.

The Business Tools area includes some sample job descriptions for several types of positions. Most of these have lots of detail, but you can keep them basic. Model yours after any one of these, or take parts from several to customize your description to a format that you like.