How to write a Proper Job Description? (2021)

A job description is the part of your CV/resume where you briefly explain your requirements, duties, skills, and responsibilities associated with the job.

A job description can be detailed with all of the job’s performance evaluation. Essentially, it’s for the applicants who want to understand the job position better.

So, it's important to know how to make a proper job description for your resume/CV. 

A well-thought-out job description will help answer most if not all of the applicant’s questions regarding the job.

Understanding the position better helps the applicant visualize himself in the position and realize if they want the job or not.

So here are a few pointers on how to write a proper job description in application for any position-

How to Write a Proper Job Description?

How to write a proper job description for your resume or application? Be thorough, write in concise, use simple words, and provide a brief summary about the jobs. 

1. Downloading a JD template

The internet has hundreds of job description templates that can help you write one for yourself.

Often job positions can come out hard to explain when taking into a factor that the requirements and responsibilities are all there while simultaneously attracting the applicants.

Not to mention the quality of the description should be as simple as possible as it will help the applicant assess the job better.

So downloading a template and modifying it to suit your needs is a great idea for writing a job description. 

If you're in a hurry to post your job, you can use jobdesk® because it offers inbuilt lots of job templates based on more than thousands of designations along with various roles from different companies or industries. It's the best option for you even you'd try it for Free. 

2. Official Job title

Every job or position has a name that we know as job titles. Therefore, every job has an official job title associated with it. Job titles are a sophisticated way to explain a position.

It helps clarify what the person’s job will be officially and the description will fill in the information gaps regarding the position. So adding the job title to the job description is a must. 

3. Summarizing the role in the opening paragraph

If a job description is unnecessarily lengthy, applicants may find it a bother to read fully which means they’ll read the relatively shorter ones first and any good applicant might be lost to competing job advertisements.

Applicants usually read a few lines from the starting paragraph to know what the job is and move to the next ad. So the opening bit of information is important to the applicants.

To confront this issue, it’s advised that you summarize the role in the opening paragraph.

Applicants reading the paragraph or even skimming through it will first grasp whether or not it’s a job for them or what they’re looking for.

So mentioning a summary at the start of the job description is essential.

4. Job duties and job responsibilities

Now comes the part where you explain the duties and responsibilities that come with the job.

You must make sure it’s not too gaudy, rigid, or overwhelming otherwise applicants will be put off from applying.

Similarly, if the description comes off as easy, laidback, or too simple, applicants will have unanswered questions which will later cause them issues at the interview phase, while some applicants might not take up the job offer at all.

So you must specify the duties and responsibilities that come with the job as formally as possible. And it'll also help applicants to write proper job description and duities on resume.  

5. Requirements and qualifications

Next, come the requirements and qualifications. This part usually comes with another paragraph after all the other information regarding the job is finished.

The requirements should be organized chronologically based on the age of the information.

The mandatory requirements should be mentioned first followed by the secondary or optional requirements.

The requirements should be easily distinguishable within the job description as this is often what the applicants read right after the title. 

6. Defining success in the role

It is often the case where an applicant may seem interested at first but then decide on not taking up the interview simply because s/he is not seeing that far away when visualizing himself/herself in the job position.

So, it’s a good strategy to market the success of the position you’re offering.

Everyone wants success and if they see it in your job description, chances are more applicants will be up for the job which means a larger number of candidates to choose from.

So don’t be shy to sell your offered position when writing a job description.

7. Stating who the Role reports to

It’s always a good idea to clarify who the role reports to just to make things easier.

The job title usually gives us an idea of where the position might be in the chain of command.

But it is still better to clarify it in the description and corporate chains of command can easily be different from one another.

So by mentioning this, the applicant can better understand his position and authority over certain matters in his work.

8. Verifying by the Hiring Manager and HR

So, you’re finished with your job description and your next step is to put it up on the internet or the papers or something. But before that, there’s still one last cautionary step that you should take.

That is to take the job description and have both the hiring manager and your company’s human resource department take a look at it.

Maybe they will find something to add to the info, or maybe they would like to take something off of it.

By making sure that the HR and the hiring manager approved of this, you now have authority that if something wrong is found in the job description, you can find and eliminate it.

And in the worst-case scenario, if there is a slip-up, it won’t only be your fault. Let's put an end here and hope that you're confident enough about how to write a proper job description.