I’ll never forget the time I was sitting opposite a client taking a brief for a new position in her team and when I asked her if she had a position description she literally scribbled a few bullet points on to a Post-It note and handed it to me across the table.

Was she serious?

Apparently so.

I should also point out that the all too common “We’re hoping to create the job around the best candidate depending on their previous experience” never really cut it with me either.

So here’s a step-by-step job description checklist for any business owner or hiring manager thinking about bringing somebody new into their team.

1. You can’t not write a job description

It’s not uncommon for an employer to know that they definitely need to bring somebody new into their business, but to not have carefully thought out exactly what it is that the new team member will be doing. I've written about this previously.

This is a dangerous way to start.

From experience, the very first thing a candidate thinks if their potential new employer (or recruiter for that matter) can’t provide them with a detailed job description is either that the job doesn’t exist, or that the company doesn’t really care much about their employees.

Not a great impression to make.

Similarly no employer wants to hear a team member say, “Sorry but that’s not in my job description”. Every manager wants staff happy to go beyond the call of duty. However the “call of duty” still needs to be documented in some way.

2. The position title must be a true reflection of the role

Don’t make a job title too vague or ‘creative’. You will just confuse people or perhaps even put them off. Internally you might decide to call your receptionist the “Director of First Impressions”, but on a job description that you share with a candidate during an interview it should still make reference to “Receptionist”.

Here are a few examples of real job titles I have seen on job descriptions that required some ‘translation’ before they really made sense to the relevant candidates.

• Dream Fulfiller = Financial Services Consultant
• Creative Guru = Creative Writer
• Web Wizard = Web Developer
• Office Dynamo = Office All-rounder
• Sales Ninja = Salesperson

3. Reporting lines need to be crystal clear

You need to clearly define the reporting lines as well as any “dotted lined” working relationships. Specifically you need to spell out who they will be directly reporting to, as opposed to who they will just be working closely with.

I remember a client once showing me the job description he had created for a new marketing assistant. Under “reporting to” it said “All Staff”.

I tried my best to suggest that he identify one key person but he chose not to listen.

He employed a great marketing assistant and about a month later he called to tell me that Kitty had resigned. When I asked why, he said she’d just felt she’d had far too many people telling her what to do.

I tried.

4. Duties and responsibilities

Without stating the obvious, the most important ‘ingredient’ in a well-crafted position description is a list of the duties and responsibilities involved in the role.

However as opposed to simply listing them one after the other, think about what percentage of time you expect the successful candidate to dedicate to each of these tasks.

This will certainly help candidates better prepare and prioritise in order to meet your expectations.

5. Separating skills and competencies

Sometimes it’s hard to separate the necessary skills required in the role from the core competencies required in the successful candidate.

To make it easier here, think of the skills as something that a candidate may have learnt such as a particular software package. While the competencies are more natural traits or attributes like “highly organised”, “team player”, “confident negotiator”, “someone who can multi-task” or even “someone who is hungry to win” – definitely a good trait for any sales person.

6. How much detail should you really include?

If you don’t want to commit to a fixed salary, then at least come up with a salary range – but do some research to ensure that the range is within market rate.

It’s also a good idea to include any specific job related benefits such as the flexibility to work from home from time to time, travel, a company car, etc.

Generally speaking, a job description should be no more than one page that includes a brief company overview, the elements outlined above, and also a snapshot as to what’s on offer – even if it’s just something like “a young, fun and creative team”.

Oh and one last thing … without at least creating a basic framework outlining what you are looking for, how would you expect to write your ad, assess applications, or even benchmark candidates?

You need a reference point.

Yes. That’s the job description.