How to structure a job description

AFR Consulting director Simon Speak shares his advice.

A well-structured job description is vital for attracting the right candidates for your role. Beyond the recruitment process, it then helps employees understand their responsibilities and helps you evaluate their performance.

The job description allows you to showcase the job and is your opportunity to attract the most appropriate candidates so include as much as you can as well as the usual role, responsibilities and qualifications.

We have compiled a few tips to help you write the role you want to recruit: Don’t just write what the person in the role currently does, but what you would like that position to be able to do – consider the businesses current situation as well as looking ahead to growth and development. Bear in mind the job you describe must be achievable – make sure that you’re not creating a job that very few people could fill. Be specific where possible but think responsibilities rather than individual tasks. Try and develop a standardised approach to job descriptions across company/ department The typical structure of a job description template is as follows: Job Title Location Reports to Job Purpose (ideally one sentence) Responsibilities/ Duties (8-15 bullet points) Essential and desirable criteria Company/ team overview Application information Having a well written job description will help you generate more relevant interest and is beneficial for recruiters sourcing and briefing target candidates.

Sample job descriptions for all levels of finance roles we recruit can be found in our specialisms section on the website www.afrconsulting.co.uk/specialisms/ Remember, the best candidates will have more than one opportunity to choose from, so to ensure that yours is their favoured role and attract the top talent you need to sell it through the job description giving potential applicants a great impression of your business.