This document discusses job descriptions, job specifications, and the difference between the two. It provides details on: - What a job description is and the typical sections it contains like job identification, duties and responsibilities, supervision, and working conditions. - What a job specification is and the minimum qualifications it lists like physical, mental, psychological, and personal characteristics required to perform the job successfully. - The key difference is that a job description outlines what the job duties are, while a job specification lists the minimum acceptable qualifications a person needs to have to do the job. Both are important tools that come from job analysis for selecting the right candidate for a role.

1. Job description and job
specification
BY: NASEER AHMED
UNIVERSITY OF BALOCHISTAN ,QUETTA.

2. Job Description:
 Job description is a written record of the duties, responsibilities and
requirements of a particular job. It is concerned with the job itself and not
with the job holders. It is a statement describing the job in such terms as its
title, location, duties, working conditions and hazards.
 Job description is the immediate product of job analysis process; the data
collected through job analysis provides a basis for job description and job
specification.

3. Writing Job Description:
 A Job description is a written statement of what the job holder actually does,
how he or she does it, and
under what conditions the job is performed. This information is in turn used to
write a job specification.
This lists the knowledge, abilities, and skills needed to perform the job
satisfactorily. While there is no
standard format you must use in writing a job description, most descriptions
contain at least sections on

4. Contents of Job Description:
 Job Identification: It includes the job title, alterative title, department,
division, and plant and code number of the job. The job title identifies and
designates the job properly, the department, division, etc., indicate the
name of the department where it is situated - whether it is the
maintenance department, mechanical shop etc. Location gives the
name of the place. This portion of job description gives answer to two
important questions: to what higher level job is this job accountable. And
who is supervised directly?
 Job Summary: Job summary describes the contents of the jobs in terms of
activities or tasks performed. Job summary should clear the nature of the
job. Primary, secondary and other duties to be performed on the job
should clearly be indicated separately.

5.  Duties and Responsibilities: This is the most important phase of job
description and should be
prepared very carefully. It describes the duties to be performed along with
frequency of each Major duty. Responsibilities concerning custody of
money, supervision and training of staff etc. are also described
 Supervision: Under it is given number of persons to be supervised along
with their job titles, and the extent of supervision involved -general,
intermediate or close supervision.
 Relation to Other Jobs: It describes the vertical and horizontal relationships
f work flow. It also indicates to whom the jobholder will report and who will
report to him. It gives an idea of channels of promotion.

6.  Working Conditions: The working environment in terms of heat, light, noise,
dust and fumes etc., the job hazards and possibility of their occurrence
and working conditions should also be described. It will be helpful in job
evaluation.
 Social Environment: It specifies the social conditions under which the work
will be performed. In this part the size of work group, interpersonal
interactions required to perform the job and development facilities are
mentioned

7. A Job Specification should include:
 Physical characteristics, which include health, strength, endurance, age,
height, weight, vision, voice, eye, hand and foot co-ordination, motor co-
ordination, and color discrimination.
 Psychological and social characteristics such as emotional stability,
flexibility, decision making ability, analytical view, mental ability, pleasing
manners, initiative, conversational ability etc.
 Mental Characteristics such as general intelligence, memory, judgment,
ability to concentrate, foresight etc.
 (iv)Personal Characteristics such as sex, education, family background, job
experience, hobbies, extracurricular activities etc.

8. Job Specification:
 Job specification is a statement of the minimum acceptable human
qualities necessary to perform a job properly.
 The job specification states the minimum acceptable qualifications that
the incumbent must possess to perform the job successfully. Based on the
information acquired through job analysis, the job specification identifies
the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to do the job effectively.
Individuals possessing the personal characteristics identified in the job
specification should perform the job more effectively than individuals
lacking these personal characteristics. The job specification, therefore, is a
important tool in the selection process, for it keeps the selector’s attention
on the list of qualifications necessary for an incumbent to perform the job
and assists in determining whether candidates are qualified.

9. Difference between Job Description
and Job Specification:
 Job description, job specification and job analysis are some of the phrases that
confuse many students of management. These phrases are very important in
the subject of human resource management. It is the job of a personnel
manager or HR manager to see that the right person gets the right job to
further the goals of an organization. It is through job analysis that he gets the
tools of job description and job specification to fulfill his tasks. There is a subtle
but very critical difference between these two tools that look very similar,
forcing many make the mistake of using them interchangeably.
 Job description and job specification are two integral parts of job analysis.
They are the written documents helps both employer & employee to
understand the job requirement. These documents are very important to find
the best fit for the available job.
 Hope these will help you clear the doubt on Job Analysis, job Description & Job
specification.