Over the last few years in college I’ve had jobs and applied for many jobs and internships that had good and bad job descriptions. For some of these job’s I was able to understand what was expected of the applicant on a day-to-day basis, whereas with others it was hard to discern what was expected of the applicant at all. I applied to some internships with very little idea what was actually going to be involved in the position, and I remember it being a very frustrating experience.
At my current job, I originally applied for a very vague position that didn’t really specify what I would be doing at all. I remember submitting my application and being very unsure if I would fit in the position since I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing. Once I had gotten into an interview and actually got to speak with what would be my supervisors, I got a very in depth description of what was going to be expected of me in the position and I felt much more comfortable with the position and my skillset.
Over time, the job description for me has changed a good amount, with a lot of new responsibilities being added to my role in the company that I originally didn’t think I would be doing from what they had told me. This has been a large learning curve for me, and has made me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing at times, which has been frustrating.
Something very important I feel like my experience highlighted about job descriptions and having/maintaining them is that they directly contribute to employee satisfaction and engagement. Before I felt like I knew what would be expected of me I felt unsure and unconfident if I had the skillset needed. Once I had a good grasp of what I would actually be doing and what I needed, I felt much more confident and ready to build those skills. However, as time has gone on and more responsibilities have been added onto my “job description,” it’s been difficult to keep up with it all and has been a bit frustrating for me.
This idea is supported this week by the article Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions, where they discuss how a job description should be a living document that adapts and is regularly updated to actually show what will be expected of an employee. If employees feel like they are doing things outside of their job description, they can feel frustrated and disengaged, so it’s important that the job descriptions accurately show what is expected and evolve with the role.
If job descriptions are accurately maintained and provide a clear expectation of what a company is looking for, then it can be very beneficial to both organization and employee and contribute to employee engagement and satisfaction.