Job Descriptions

Job descriptions help incumbents understand the range of responsibilities they will assume at work. Consider the following example:

Human Resource Specialist

Tasks

• Prepare or maintain employment records related to events such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human resources management system software.
• Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
• Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork.
• Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion opportunities.
• Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns.
• Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• Schedule or conduct new employee orientations.
• Maintain and update human resources documents, such as organizational charts, employee handbooks or directories, or performance evaluation forms.
• Confer with management to develop or implement personnel policies or procedures.

• Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate.

Knowledge

• Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

• Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

If you visit the O-Net Online site you can see the even larger varieties of information that has been accumulated with respect to this particular title.

What is most interesting is that all by itself the job description might easily distinguish one job title from another. For example, one could compare the description of the HR Specialist with the HR Manager. Certainly there may be some overlap in tasks, knowledge, skills; however, one can easily distinguish between the nature of the two positions.

It is much more difficult to determine the exact job responsibilities of every person employed as a Human Resources Specialist. For example, in a large HR Office a person in this title might focus almost entirely on EEO work, while another person in the same title would spend most of her time recruiting. In a much smaller office the incumbent might be required to dabble in each task area, in essence the “jack of all trades, master of none”.

In other words, a job description may set some clear parameters concerning the nature of the job, but all by itself does not clearly define anyone’s specific job responsibilities within the title itself.