Exemplar Job Descriptions & Specifications etc

We’ve talked about these, but what are they and what do they look like?  here I am going to profile a couple of jobs for you and show you the type of documentation you will increasingly be seeking/receiving as your career progresses.   Initially, at the start of your career the classic one page c.v. plus covering letter follow up to a short job advert may (I stress the ‘may’, here) be enough, but increasingly organisations are beginning to recognise the substantial direct and indirect costs of poor recruitment which may range from posts almost permanently unoccupied, high levels of staff turnover, low morale, falling quality of service etc.  Recruiting the wrong person can have serious and expensive repercussions.

Larger organisations with HRM departments, international & multinational corporations and particularly management positions with anglophone companies are tending to produce far more detail of the post in question and of the characteristics of the ‘ideal’ candidate for the post.   This is because they recognise that recruitment and selection is a two way process: the employer may well select the candidate…. but the candidate has to be sure he/she wants to select the employer.

Organisations tend to discover that the propensity for new recruits to become dissatisfied and leave is highest in the first six months of employment.  They have spent perhaps three months working out what the job is and forming an impression of it and the next three months actively working to ‘exit’ the organisation.  The typical reason for leaving cited by such individuals is more often than not: ‘The job is not what I was led to believe…’

It would have been better, surely, to have recruited the right person in the first place………..

Here is how the East Midlands Development Agency went about advertising a Tourism Research Managers’ Post recently…. you will perhaps be surprised by the number of documents and the detail…….

EMDA Tourism Research Management Post

The Post Advertisement

East Midlands Development Agency

http://www.emda.org.uk/

Vacancy – Tourism Investment and Research Manager

Nottingham based, £26,453 – £31,039 per annum + benefits

As emda’s regional tourism development body, East Midlands Tourism (EMT) is seeking an individual with excellent communication skills to champion investment in the region’s tourism product. Working closely with stakeholders in the private and public sectors, you will be required to act as the first point of contact for all investment enquiries, manage the development of projects being supported by EMT’s tourism investment fund and engage with key stakeholders in the region to secure their on-going commitment to greater levels of investment in the development of the tourism product. Project management, research and budget control are all key parts to this role and the ability to communicate to a wide audience is an essential ingredient. Closing date: 5pm, Thursday 18th September 2008

The Job Description

The Person Specification

…. Can’t possibly be anything else, can there?

… Oh yes there can……

EMDA Background

Application Form

Application Guidance