What is Job Description?

What is Job Description?

A person applying for a job in any organization has to first match his job profile with the 'job description' as stated by the company. Certain jobs require a prospective employee to modify his/her abilities in order to fulfill the needs of the recruiting organization and perform the role assigned to the fullest of his capabilities. Naturally, a role is a set of tasks or expected consequences associated with a job. A job typically includes a collection of roles.

A job description is essentially a dossier of the responsibilities, tasks and functions that come attached with the said job. Additionally, it enlists the qualifications expected, remuneration promised and work experience sought for. The construction of a job description usually begins with a job analysis that examines the sequence of jobs that have to be performed by the employee-to-be. It also includes knowledge-level of the applicant, results expected by the company and so on and so forth.

The objective of a job description is to lay down the required duties expected of the applicant in order to conduct the recruitment process by free of fair means. Job description has certain elements including giving all members an insight in existing roles, enabling advancement of employees to higher roles within the organization and many more.

The probable items in a job description include job title, summary, duties, responsibilities, job specifications, qualifications, professional skills, salary and benefits. The case in Canada is no different with job-seekers required to satisfy in all of the above categories in order to land a job.

Canada has a large job market, especially for fresh graduates aiming to begin a new career. Being largely an Arctic country, there is not much scope in the agricultural sector, but Canada is being seen as an emerging destination for manufacturing and technology. The Canadian government sets aside a considerable sum of money in the Canada Crown Corporation that runs various public sector undertakings that employ large numbers of qualified employees every year. Apart from the general qualities that are expected of a potential employee by the governing organization, the average Canadian company requires the candidate to be proficient in French, apart from English, since a large fraction(around 23 per cent) of the Canadian public uses French as the daily means of communication. English and French have been recognized as the official languages of Canada and this has been stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, the Official Languages Act and the Official Language Regulations. Honesty and diligence are other factors that the employers enlist in the job description. Testimony to this is the fact that Canada stands 9^th out of a hundred and eighty countries in the Corruption Perception Index, published in 2008 by Transparency International. Certain Canadian organizations also encourage young employees to further their knowledge levels by funding their research programs and higher education.

Thus, in many ways, the job description serves as a necessary tool that is used in the screening process of candidates applying for a job in Canada.