3 Best Job Description Templates Used by Fuzu’s Hiring Team (and What Makes Them Effective)

Do you want to attract the perfect candidate but don’t know how to do it? Here are 3 job description templates to help you get started.

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An empty office chair is expensive to fill. Therefore, you’ll want to get your hiring process right the first time. When you use effective job description templates, you can draw in the qualified, well-fitting, and skilled crowd. Crafting good job description templates takes a lot of practice and attention to detail. Think about it, you have about 20 seconds to convince a qualified applicant that your job is the best fit for them so they can be interested in joining your team.

Well, today I'd like to let you in on Fuzu's team hiring secrets. Before we get into that, let’s unpack what job description templates are and their contents.

What is a job description?

A job description is a formal account of the qualifications, skills, duties, and responsibilities required in a role. An applicant needs to know the equipment, tools, and tasks that will be expected to execute; this makes it easier for applicants to know what they are signing up for.

Effective job description templates attract qualified, talented, and highly-skilled applicants. Let’s face it, no one wants a half-done CV from a job applicant. In the same way, prospective employees don’t want half-done job description templates.

 

8 benefits of effective job description templates

 

1. Gives a clear description of the role to the applicant.

2. Clarifies the employer’s expectations of the employee.

3. Creates parameters of the role irrespective of manager interpretation.

4. Gives important reference points for training and development areas.

5. Formulates the skills and behaviour sets an employee should have for the role.

6. Acts as a reference point for disciplinary issues and employee/employer disputes.

7. Creates a basis for measuring job performance ahead of performance review meetings.

8. Gives the company discipline and structure to understand all the roles and ensure the responsibilities, duties, and activities are covered by one position or another.

 

3 job description templates used by the Fuzu hiring team

Now that you know the importance of effective job description templates, here are 3 templates you can check out.

 

Job description template 1: Personal Assistant

When crafting a job description for a Personal Assistant, Mercy Mwangi, shared the following pointers that you can use as a checklist:

 

• The job title should clearly state what the position is about.

• The summary should give a brief description of the company and what it does. A company needs to sell itself in the job description.

• A general overview of the position and who they will be reporting to.

• Adequate responsibilities for the applicant to envision what they will be doing.

• Ideal skills and competencies required for engagement. This should be clearly defined (years of experience, education, desired industry, soft and hard skills, etc)

• Duration of the job; contract time, full-time, etc

• What the employer is offering, which includes a competitive salary (not exactly the amount) and benefits. We like an employer who brags about the different things they will offer.

Good job description templates have adequate information, while vague ones can be a red flag.

 

Sample job description for a Personal Assistant 

Job title: Personal Assistant

Job Category: Administrative, Clerical (The category that this candidate will be working in)

Industry: (Industry that the client company is operating in)

Job Summary:

About the company: Our company is an established, reputable, learning-oriented company looking to expand our team one amazing hire at a time!

Role Summary: We are looking for a versatile and highly-organized Personal Assistant to perform personalized administrative duties for senior management. In this role, you will be responsible for scheduling meetings, taking notes, and handling correspondence on behalf of managers. You may also be required to make travel arrangements and assist with other duties when required.

 

Job description template 2: Finance Officer - Agriculture

When crafting personal assistant job description templates, use the points below shared by James Makau as a checklist.

 

• Hiring Company profiles - to sell the brand and help applicants understand you better.

• A brief introduction about the role - role summary.

• Clear structured responsibilities to help the candidates understand the main KPIs.

• Clearly defined attributes required/skills required. This should cover both must-have skills, generic, and soft skills.

• Role educational requirement - education level and years of experience.

 

Sample job description for a Financial Officer - Agriculture

Job title: Finance Officer

Job Category: Accounting, finance, banking, insurance (The category that this candidate will be working in)

Industry: Agriculture, fishing, forestry (Industry that the client company is operating in)

Step 1 of 4: Job Summary:

About the company: Company X is a commercial farming platform for small-scale farmers that helps farmers maximize their profits. Company X uses agronomic machine learning, remote sensing, and mobile phones to deliver financing, high-quality farm products, and optimized advice that can more than double farm profitability, starting in Kenya. 

Role Summary: The Financial officer will participate in the conception; design, development, and implementation of projects that help expand agriculture productivity; strengthen markets for related goods and services, link communities, manage the resource base, and restore the capacity of small and medium agro-enterprises to produce, process, and market agricultural goods and services.

Responsibilities

 

• Monitor, analyze, and provide guidance to Senior Management teams, project leads and Finance leads on budget development and management; accounting, and financial reporting policies, tools, and guidelines.

• Review and assess financial management systems, policies, processes, and practices, and assist with resolving issues and implementing preventive and corrective actions to ensure consistent attainment of financial management 'standards of excellence.

• Prepare and provide accurate and timely financial analysis reports and other reports on financial trends and indicators to guide decision-making and efficient and effective financial resource management.

• Lead on assessing professional development needs of Finance staff in the region and ensure focused plans for mentoring and capacity building.

• Act as the regional liaison and a key point of contact on all finance-related matters with HQ, donors, internal and external auditors, and other external stakeholders.

• Guide risk management and internal controls in preparing for internal and external audits in responding to audit issues and following up with the implementation of the audit recommendations.

(Please note that this is an overview of the duties involved and by no means limits any other duty that could be assigned to you by either the Duty Manager or Line Manager.)

Our ideal candidate would need to have the following key attributes:

 

• Degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or a related field of study

• Minimum of 7 years of accounting experience in an international operations environment

Job Qualifications

 

• Experience with Quickbooks and advanced Microsoft Excel skills required.

• Knowledge of procurement best practices, and International Financial Accounting Standards.

• Ability to read, write, and speak English.

• Demonstrated ability to show initiative, solve problems, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and remain calm under pressure.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, prioritize, and develop timelines and schedules.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to interact effectively and professionally with all levels of staff and management with varying degrees of financial knowledge.

Company Perks

Top candidates like to know what they are getting in return. This doesn't have to be monetary, it can be as simple as a 'Friday Fun day.' For example:

• Team Bonuses

• Medical Insurance

• Great work-life balance

Step 2 of 4: Required Skills:

Highlight skills that this candidate needs to have to best succeed in this role.

These are the top 3 recommended must-have skills for this job:

Financial analytics and forecasting, Internal communication, Budgeting, financial planning

Required Skills:

To excel in this role these are some recommended skills that your candidate should perform:

CPA certification, Risk analysis, Financial controlling, Financial analytics and forecasting, Financial analysis, Project monitoring, and evaluation (M&E), and Auditing of accounts.

Step 3 of 4: Personality test recommendations.

These are some preferred personality traits for this role:

 

• Teamwork - is compassionate, trusting & helpful

• Creativity - Adapts To new situations and comes up with creative ideas

• Stress tolerance - Is stable and calm at all times

• Social situations - Is curious, talkative, and expressive

• Persistence - Is structured and goal-driven

Recommend test: Senior accounting test

 

Job description template 3: Business Development Manager - IT Industry 

Below is a job description template that you can customize to fit your Company and role.

 

Sample job description for a Business Development Manager - IT Industry

Job title:  Business Development Manager (IT)

Job Category: Sales, Marketing, promotion (The category that this candidate will be working in)

Industry: Software, IT (Industry that the client company is operating in)

Step 1 of 4: Job Summary:

About the company: XYZ Consulting is a new company that provides expertise in search marketing solutions for businesses worldwide, including website promotion, online advertising, and search engine optimization techniques to improve its clients' positioning in search engines. We cater to the higher education market, including colleges, universities, and professional educational institutions. We are a fun, young, learning-oriented company looking to expand our team one amazing hire at a time!

Role Summary: We are looking for a business development manager whose sole purpose will be to identify suitable target customers (new business) and establish and build relationships. Communicate Value Proposition as well as identify and neutralize objections. The successful candidate will be expected to close new business and retain customers.

Responsibilities

 

• Experience in selling cloud software for B2B or services to the target industry

• Understand and articulate the difference between product features vs benefits

• Develop business penetration strategies to achieve set targets from various sectors.

• Understand and convey complex customer requirements on both a business and technical level and provide solutions that translate into business for the company.

• Lead negotiations, coordinate complex decision-making processes, overcome obstacles for closure, and close sales professionally and effectively

• Responsible for vertical planning through research, development, and maintenance of long- and short-range sales and marketing plan

• Build and maintain strong customer relationships both in the public and private sectors Manage accounts following closure for expanded sales

(Please note that this is an overview of the duties involved and by no means limits any other duty that could be assigned to you by either the Duty Manager or Line Manager.)

Our ideal candidate would need to have the following key attributes:

 

• Degree in Marketing/ Business Management/IT-related field of study

• 5+ years of direct selling work experience in the lT industry

Job Qualifications

 

• Excellent organizational and project management skills;

• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills;

• Demonstrated ability to work confidently and collaboratively with individuals at all levels of the organization;

• Ability to flourish with minimal guidance, be proactive, and handle uncertainty;

• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; and

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Company Perks

Top candidates like to know what they are getting in return. This doesn't have to be monetary, it can be as simple as a 'Friday Fun day'

 

• Team Bonuses

• Medical Insurance

• Great work-life balance

Step 2 of 4: Required Skills

Highlight skills that this candidate needs to have to best succeed in this role.

These are the top 3 Recommended must-have skills for this job:

Business 2 Business (B2B) sales, Consumer sales (B2C), Customer support, CRM systems

Required Skills:

To excel in this role these are some recommended skills that your candidate should perform:

Business to Business (B2B) sales, Consumer sales (B2C), Brand Management, Advertising, Aftersales, Customer support, CRM systems, Sales performance tracking and reporting, Sales strategy, and Presentation skills.

Step 3 of 4: Personality test recommendations.

These are some preferred personality traits for this role

 

• Teamwork - is compassionate, trusting & helpful

• Creativity - Adapts To new situations and comes up with creative ideas

• Stress tolerance - Is stable and calm at all times

• Social situations - Is curious, talkative, and expressive

• Persistence - Is structured and goal-driven

Recommend tests: 

Sales & Basic Aptitude Test - This is a test meant to validate job applicants' sales and basic aptitude: Numerical Reasoning Language Skills Logical / Abstract Reasoning

Senior Sales Test - This test will check whether job applicants possess the required skills for a sales or business development role.

 

Conclusion

Good job description templates are brief and clear. This is not the time to explain how each task is done. Save this information for the onboarding process. If you feel the need to expound on each task, cross-reference the operational manual on the job description templates. Examine the job descriptions above and see how they can be customized to your company and position. Did you like any of the job description templates above? Let us know in the comments!