I’ve seen some pretty horrendous looking job descriptions in my time.  In fact, the only thing some of them have in common with a job description is the heading “job description”.  Here are five of the worst offences I’ve seen:

Too short

Not giving enough detail in a job description doesn’t help anyone.  Candidates will be confused about what you want and you will receive a greater number of CVs and applications that aren’t a good match to what you need. 

Too long

You don’t need to rival War and Peace to get your point across.  Concentrate on the key deliverables and responsibilities and be clear about what’s actually involved in the position.  Don’t include information that’s not relevant at this stage.  If you have a commission scheme, for example, you can mention the salient points.  However, it’s not relevant to reproduce the entire commission scheme as part of the job description.  I would also suggest that you’re leaving yourself open to having your information pinched and shared with your competitors. 

Too generic

Whilst you want to avoid writing a long job description, you do need to make sure that you give enough detail to be specific about the role.  Even if you already have a job description from last time you recruited for this position, it’s highly likely that at least some of the details have changed.  Be specific about what’s involved and you stand a better chance of getting suitable applications. 

Just a list of bullet points

Not particularly helpful.  Outlining the key aspects of the role under specific headings is not only helpful to the candidate but will also help you to be clear about exactly what is involved in the role. 

Too plagiarised

My particular favourite, this one.  Let’s say I’m recruiting for a Helpdesk Manager.  I know!  I’ll go online, search for the words “Helpdesk Manager job description” and hey presto!  I’ve got a job description.  I’ll just change a few details and….  Never mind that it’s for a much larger company.  In America.  Oh well, I’m sure it’ll be fine. 

Get in touch if you want to make us to help you avoid these offences against job descriptions.