Recruitment and Selection Defining the job requirements

Defining the job requirements

This activity follows on from and builds on defining the job. Once you know what job is needed to be done you can define what is needed to get the job done.

Time invested at this stage will improve the accuracy of your selection process. It also can prove very useful should you wish to (or need to) explain to someone why they did not get the job.

Some Key Questions

• Is there a job profile for the job?
• What are the key competencies required?
• Are there any minimum or threshold requirements?
• What are the skills/knowledge required?
• What sort of experience and of what kind are required?
• What sort of personal qualities are we looking for?
• What distinguishes superior from average performance?
• Are there any legally required qualifications or certifications?

Recommended Practice

• Check your ideas out with your manager or a colleague who knows the job well. It can be useful to get a second opinion
• Try to avoid thinking about what the current (or previous) job holder had in terms of qualitifications, skills, experience, and focus on the needs of the job itself. Individuals all bring something a bit different to the job (this is part of the fun) but it is best to develop the requirements based on the ‘base case'.
• Consider the behaviour indicators (or competencies) which will most likely lead to high performance in the role.
• Use your company competency framework if you have one