Have you ever gone online and taken a look at job postings on websites — or better yet, when you are trying to fill a position, taken a look at the job descriptions from your own organization? At times they are filled with initials and acronyms that are facility specific and unknown to anyone outside the specific organization, or they have so many requirements that one is exhausted just reading them.

Job descriptions, which become the blueprint for our postings and employment ads, should be concise and accurate.

When someone reads a job posting they should be able to get a solid idea of what the job responsibilities are as well as what the qualifications are that are required to perform this particular job.

Here are a few tips for writing job descriptions:

•    Keep sentences as short as possible; omit words that are not necessary.
•    Leave out technical language whenever possible; explain the duties, responsibilities and requirements in a manner that even a layperson would understand.
•    Use short, concise sentences or bullets points. Avoid using a narrative structure.
•    Write in the present tense and use active verbs.
•    Be consistent with your job descriptions; do not change the requirements for similar positions. Hiring managers at times have a person in mind for a position and want to craft the job description to match that individual’s qualifications. Internal and external applicants read these and can identify when there are discrepancies. This can lead to charges of discrimination and legal consequences.
•    Focus on the essential functions of the job, not necessarily the frequency of the task.
•    Avoid vague terms like facilitate, interface, may, occasionally. Use accurate terms.
•    Describe and define responsibility as concretely as possible.
•    Try to list responsibilities in a logical sequence.
•    Use” preferred” instead of “required” for qualifications like years of experience or degrees, unless otherwise stipulated by regulatory bodies. This will allow for flexibility without being viewed as discriminatory if you alter the qualifications and repost at a later date.

If you follow these simple steps, you will be amazed at how much easier it will be for those applying for positions in your facility or system to really understand the responsibilities for the positions that are available and for which they will apply.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 2:04 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.