What is a job description? A job description is type of formal document outline the information, qualifications and expectations of a certain role within a company. These job descriptions allow workers to fully understand their individual role, and what they are able to do to benefit their company.
Why are job descriptions important?
While many jobs can be very hard to work, or contain long strenuous hours, employees should still be able to somewhat enjoy the experience or at least feel rewarded by the work they put in. Providing a very detailed job description can make employees have a sense of direction and motivation, which can improve their overall performance and the performance of others around them. From Forbes magazine, “High-quality job descriptions help attract candidates aligned with a company’s mission, values and culture. High-quality job descriptions also help teams stay rooted in skills-based hiring decisions by focusing on the skills that predict success in the role, not on arbitrary standards and proxy qualifications (e.g., education, experience) that have low predictive value” (Morelli). Job Descriptions can affect employees at every level, from job searching up until job promotions, making it very important for any company to assess.
Personal Experience
This past summer, I worked an internship with a company called PCL construction, as a project engineer. Although there was no real job description for the internship position, I was able to experience a variety of construction methods and gain a multitude of experience. In the Project Engineer role (starting role out of college), however, your expectations and tasks are clearly set out and defined. This ensures a general understanding of the duties that are expected, as well as gives meaning to the work that is done on the day-to-day. Through my internship experience, I was able to do meaningful work, that actually contributed to the job process. This kept me much more motivated, helped me work hard, and above all gave me a good sense of purpose. This is the goal of any good job description, as it is essentially the framework for creating a successful and happy employee.