Excessively high costs, unusual fluctuation, tension in the work place, and too many sick days – all these can be the results of the wrong choices being made when it comes to hiring employees. However, if the necessary requirements for an employee are defined in advance, positions can be filled by the “perfect” candidate, and the risk of making a wrong decision is reduced. The corresponding criteria needs to be included in the job profile.
The job profile is a part of the job description and is therefore aimed directly at potential applicants. In a job profile, the employer lists all the essential skills and abilities that an employee should have in order to apply for the advertised position. If an employee has these skills, they can achieve the best possible results in the relevant position.
By describing the skills as accurately and in as much detail as possible, there’s a much higher chance of suitable applicants contacting the company. If applicants don’t have a good idea of the desired qualifications, you’ll end up with numerous unsuitable candidates applying for the position. On the other hand, suitable candidates won’t consider a job advertisement that is too general and may refrain from applying.
The job profile is the result of a requirement analysis. First, the necessary qualities needed to perform a certain activity have to be determined. These analyses are relevant for numerous processes within the HR department. These include, for example, staff selection, staff development, or the introduction of employee evaluation systems.
When writing a job profile, it’s necessary to highlight the most important skills and abilities for the position in question. In order to express the requirements as comprehensively and accurately as possible, it is advisable to create the job profile in four steps:
The job profile is based on the concrete tasks that the applicant is to perform later. These tasks therefore have to be defined at the beginning. The following questions can serve as a guide. The questions should be answered by the responsible manager, and, if necessary, by a department employee:
The most important requirement criteria for potential applicants can then be derived from the answers given to the above questions. These requirements can be assigned to different fields. Basically, you should limit yourself to the most important requirements – those that are necessary for carrying out the tasks efficiently.
After you have determined the necessary requirements, the next step should be to weight them. The best way to do this is to classify the competences and skills on a scale. A typical example would be marking the requirements from 1 to 6, where 1 could stand for “essential” and 6 for “not important.” Answering various questions can help you to weight the criteria. For example, always ask yourself how necessary a requirement really is in order to be able to optimally fulfil the tasks typical of the profession. Further meaningful questions are:
Once you have determined and weighted all the requirements, you can create the job profile. The following structure is recommended for this:
This is an example for a job profile for a job as a marketing manager:
Your profile:
In our example, we adhered to the recommended structure for a job profile. First, the formal requirements for the applicant were included: a degree in economics or communication sciences with a focus on marketing or a comparable qualification, as well as initial professional experience in marketing/online marketing. In the next step, analytical thinking was mentioned as a technical requirement. In addition, the applicant should have a proactive and result-orientated way of working as well as a high degree of initiative (methodical skills). At the end of the job profile, social skills were requested: first-rate communication skills and a persuasive appearance.
A position is filled optimally if the job profile matches the applicant’s qualifications profile. However, a perfect match is rarely achieved. Therefore, you should specify the minimum requirements for an applicant and hire the candidate who matches the job profile best.
Please note the legal disclaimer relating to this article.
Generally speaking, you are under no legal obligation to provide a job reference for an employee if they ask you for one. If you do make a reference as an employer, you must be fair and accurate. How do you write a job reference that is fair and accurate for a terrible employee? Does this put you at risk of being sued? Read on about how to write and understand fair job references, without putting...
As an employer, you will likely be asked to provide work references for employees when they leave their job. Do you know the difference between a simple and detailed reference? Do you know what the key elements are? Do you know what your legal obligations are? This article will answer all of those questions, as well as provide you with tips and examples for writing a good job reference for...
How important is a company’s review in a job search? On the one hand, job review sites support potential applicants in finding a good potential employer. In addition, the assessments provide employers with feedback. On the other hand, how reliable and helpful the actual feedback is can be questioned, seeing as the feedback is anonymous. What should employers and employees look out for? And which...
If you have sent a job application, you will usually have to wait a while to hear back. When is it worth asking about the status of your application? Depending on the employer and the position’s closing date, it will be time sooner or later to send a follow-up e-mail after the application. We explain how this should be done and what needs to be considered.
The assessment centre: for some an absolute nightmare scenario, for others, the most effective selection procedure. Companies can find the perfect employee for an advertised position through intensive discussions with applicants and special examination situations.
Provide powerful and reliable service to your clients with a web hosting package from IONOS
