Job Specification as against Job Description

Job Specification

Many people make the mistake of equating job specification with job description. These are not the same. Therefore, it is essential to understand how these differ from each other.

Some job advertisements clearly indicate that people can mistake one for the other. These may state under job description describing the kind of people who are invited to apply as being customer-oriented, creative and / or a team player.

These are job specification criteria, not job description.

Job Description

Job responsibility and duties under job description may look like this:

• To conduct quarterly audit.
• To supervise staff involved with production process.
• To prepare downtime report and make recommendation

So, what is job specification?
Job specification describes the person that the organization is looking for to fill the vacant position. These may include
1. Personal qualities
2. Qualification
3. Relevant experience
4. Special skills

If you are assigned the job of recruiting people, get to understand the basic difference between job specification and job description. Then, draft job advertisements accordingly and you are more likely to get the person that you need. You can either fail to plan or plan to fail. Avoid both.