Job descriptions

To avoid discriminating in the recruitment process, job and person requirements should be accurately defined. Acas advises employers to be clear about the job in question, and the skills needed, preferably by setting out a written job description and person specification.

It says a good job description is concise and straightforward and should include the overall title and aim of the job, what the new employee will do and what he or she will work with.

Similarly a person specification should be concise and straightforward and linked directly to the job description. Acas says it should:

• contain the skills and knowledge and experience which a person will need to have, or be able to acquire, in order to do the job well;

• use explicit terms — for example, instead of “needs a good command of spoken English” say “needs to give clear information to clients by phone”; and

• avoid subjective or irrelevant criteria.