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Susan M. Heathfield

Not Sexy, But Handy: Use Job Specifications

By , About.com GuideOctober 22, 2011

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I've been using job specifications for years; I just never called them that. Recent searches by readers on my site indicate that a lot of people work with job specifications and I decided to research best practices. As a result of my research, I came up with my own definition for job specification. Then, I tried my hand at two sample job specifications.

Job specifications serve a number of important roles. They allow recruiters and hiring managers to zero in on the most important requirements for the best candidate for your jobs in ways that more detailed job descriptions cannot. In this capacity, a recruiter can use the job specification to write job postings and recruit through employees and social media such as LinkedIn. This posting is much more defined than a job description for the short time spans that colleagues can invest in your recruiting.

Next, the HR recruiter or the hiring manager can use the job specification to review the resumes and applications you receive to select the most qualified candidates for telephone screens and interviews. The job specification is refined at the recruiting planning meeting so all employees involved are clear and agree about the qualifications of your eventually chosen employee. And, the employees who will participate in interviewing prospective employees receive a clear picture of the employee the organization seeks.

Here's a sample Human Resources Director job specification and a sample Marketing Manager job specification.

Image Copyright Jochen Sand / Getty Images

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Comments
October 22, 2011 at 11:14 pm
(1) Graham J Smith says:

<a href= "Frontier Technology Services (FTS)" focus on the providing human technical resource for the technology intensive industries of Malaysia.
I understand your suggestions well.
You would be surprised at the nonsense that is offered to FTS as job specification/description.
I have no hope of getting the majority of the employers I work with to consider this subtle distinction.
However I may be able to prompt the distinction in my move to address this fundamental problem and that is to provide the employers a template for establishing the job spec and candidate requirements.
Thank you for this article.

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