The Importance of the Job Description

Any piece of successful recruitment starts with a well defined job description which all parties have agreed to. If you don't do this, then you have no basis on which to advertise or interview and as a result could end up wasting hours interviewing unsuitable candidates due to a lack of clarity about what you are actually looking for.  

So what things should go into the job description. 

Firstly, you need to have a meeting with all people involved in the recruitment to work out what they expect this person to be doing. This may be as simple as making a list of what the job entails from Monday through to Friday and then boiling that down into a series of maybe a dozen bullet points. You should then look at those bullet points and weight them, dividing them into percentages so that you have an understanding of what strengths you need from your candidate.

In addition, you should have a section of Essential and Desirable skills. This needs to be thought about quite carefully as classing something as Essential when it is merely desiribale could limit the people you look at. Another section of your job specification, should include the qualifications the person needs. Ask yourself whether you really need them or are they merely desirable. 

A title, salary and benefits should also be included and again these need to be thought through. The title of the job needs to be something which candidates are likely to be searching for under keywords on the internet. The more specialised you make it, the fewer hits your advert is likely to receive. Your salary band needs to go to the maximum you can pay to attract the most people the first time around. Quite often you may have more benefits than you initially think - for example, free parking is a huge plus in Cambridge and many companies forget to add it to their benefit list.

Once you have done all of this, only then are you ready to start recruiting. 

Cavill Robinson has had many years of advising people on their job specifications, both in how to put them together and whether they are realistic in their aspirations. Please call us on 01223 300639 or email on camb@cavillrobinson.co.uk if you need further help in this area.