The Perfect Job Description

In case you missed it, Jermain Defoe’s job ad for a PA attracted a lot of attention – partly because it’s August so silly season for news but also because it was frankly ridiculous.

He needs someone who can work 24/7 and perform up to 55 duties – I think he is still going to play football himself but outside of that this PA will be doing everything.

55 duties – that’s a lot and probably not properly representative of the role.

In case you wonder what we recruiters do for our fees, this is a classic example of when your recruitment partner steps in to say enough!

Jermain Defoe’s job description is a wish list and is an indication that whilst he knows what he wants someone to do, he doesn’t fully know how to communicate it in a way that will guarantee he gets the right candidate – efficiently.

Recruitment has changed so much in the last 10/15 years. Then, candidates just listened to what we said and made a decision, now everyone is a researcher and before committing to a recruitment process they want to see and read everything.

This means that as the employer you have to be faultless, your website and your career page, your company LinkedIn page and the job description are key.

Don’t list 55 things that you have to do, list the core tasks that must be completed and the skills required to do those. Talk about the key skills that you can’t do without and screen CV’s based on those – most jobs can be summarised by 3-5 essential skills.

The job description needs to be engaging, descriptive, honest and not too wordy. It should contain your values, it should sound like you – not like a stuffy HR document.

If you need help call your recruiter, we are your brand ambassadors and we know what makes a good job description and we know what will save you time.