How do I write a job description?

Before writing the job description and defining the requirements and responsibilities for the role, it’s important to think through several questions: 

• What are the most frequent and role-critical tasks a person in this role would be doing?
• What are the skills that are necessary at the time of hiring a person in this role, as opposed to trainable skills? 
• What are the competencies a person in this role would need to succeed? 
• What are the characteristics of the work environment a candidate should be aware of? 

These questions will help you understand what kind of candidate you are looking for, which will make it easier to write a clear and relevant job description. 

Having enough information about the role is key, so don’t hesitate to carefully consider the planned workload or discuss the role with an employee working on similar projects. 

A good job description will accurately represent the job’s requirements, responsibilities and qualifications, while at the same time attract qualified candidates and inform them of your expectations in advance. 

If you have decided to use a job template, we will provide you with a pre-written job description based on the information available in the O*NET database. Make sure you carefully review it to ensure that it fits the job role you have in mind. 

For more information about how to conduct a detailed job analysis and write a relevant job description, you can read our white paper ‘Using science to find the perfect hire’.