Job Description vs. Job Specification

Whenever a job listing is posted on the job search platforms. There is one document attached along with the job listing that can be either a job description or job specification. Let's understand the meaning of each to specify their characteristics:

A job description outlines basic workings, responsibilities, and duties related to the job. It also gives an idea about what kind of tasks are expected to be performed and what expectations are made by the company. A job description not only serves information to job seekers but it also informs the recruitment team about specific information regarding the job listing to develop the employee selection criteria. 

The job description helps both employer and employee to evaluate overall information about the job listing. It defines roles & responsibilities, serves as a document to shortlist candidates, and helps job seekers in job analysis. 

Key Components of a Job Description:

• Job Title: call of the vacant role.

• Job Summary: offers a brief evaluation of the objective and what sort of candidate is needed.

• Key Responsibilities: It includes primary obligations and roles.

• Work Conditions: Tells about the operating environment.

• Reporting Structure: States the authority, responsibility, and reporting structure. 

Example of a Job Description: For a content writer position, the job description would include details of tasks, such as writing blogs, SEO practices, content filtering, and proofreading. It would also include whom the candidate will report to, like the content manager. 

A job specification is another document like a job description, but there is a huge difference between job description and job specification. Because a job specification gives a detailed overview of qualifications, eligibility criteria, a list of skills, and necessary requirements such as experience. It means it mainly focuses on the employee selection criteria. But that doesn't mean that it's not relevant to the job seekers; it serves equal importance to both employee and employer. 

Key Components of a Job Specification:

• Qualifications or Eligibility: It includes necessary educational qualifications, degrees, professional certifications, or any other pre-specified criteria that need to be fulfilled. 

• Experience: How much experience should a candidate possess to apply for the job listing?

• Skills and Competencies:What type of skills are required for the job listing, like SQL, Power BI, or negotiation skills? 

• Physical and Mental Requirements: It can also include physical or medical requirements if the job demands, like a job listing for a security personnel.

Job specification meaning is necessary to understand for both employee and employer to decide whether they fit into the role or not. A job specification can save time for both parties if followed; unless both employer and job seekers are unaware of such information, the recruitment process and fast job search would not be as efficient as they should be.

Example of a Job Specification: For the same Content Writer role, the job specification would list a degree in marketing or related fields, 5+ years of experience, and proficiency in SEO practices and MS Office Suite. A strong command of minor details and good communication skills is required.

Let's understand how these two documents vary the recruitment process and what is the difference between job description and job specification across various aspects. Here are 5 major differences across several aspects: 

Purpose

Job Description: The basic purpose of a job description document is to help employers and job seekers understand the role, responsibilities, and score of the job. Because it also serves a purpose for job seekers to find keywords from the job description with the help of a job description keywords finder and include them in their resume. As it helps them pass ATS checks. 

Job Specification: This document defines the qualifications, skills, and experiences that are required by the employer for a specific job. It is also referred to while making the employee selection criteria. 

Utility

Job Description: This document helps job seekers to understand the basic workings of the job, whom they will be reporting to, and what their workings will be. This document is used as an information tool, performance measurement criteria, and planning employee selection criteria. 

Job Specification: The job specification document helps both hiring managers and candidates for job analysis. Because a candidate becomes aware of the qualifications and requirements, whereas the employer becomes aware of what type of candidate will be a perfect fit for the job. This document not only helps candidates to find keywords for resume to optimize their CV. But also helps in preparing for interviews, such as salary negotiation, and preparing skills and software related answers.

Content

Job Description: This document includes: 

• Job duties and powers 

• Roles and responsibilities 

• Working condition/environment 

• Reporting authority 

• Job summary 

Job Specification: This document focuses on: 

• Qualifications 

• Education 

• Years of experience 

• Technical skills

• Salary and working days/hours

Creation Process

Job Description: The job description creation process starts with job analysis, where all the information is gathered from the departmental manager. Then hiring managers create this document by observing current employees with the same role and reviewing the past job description to maintain authenticity. 

Job Specification: Firstly, the hiring manager identifies educational requirements for the vacant role and lists the necessary skills or experience required for the job listing. This information is collected through observation, analysing old job specifications, or direct consultation with the departmental managers. 

Role in Performance Measurement

Job Description: It directly helps the hiring managers to evaluate the job performance by detailing the tasks and responsibilities. Based on the job description, a hiring manager evaluated whether the employee is fulfilling his duties or not. 

Job Specification: A job specification is not used for performance evaluation since there is nothing to be used in the performance measurement. A job specification can be used for interviews because of its content, such as qualifications, skills, and salary. 

The difference between job description and job specification lies in these 5 points. There is one more point that can be added: job descriptions are used by candidates for optimizing their resumes through the resume keywords generator, and job specifications can be used to identify a set of skills that are required by the employer.