Preparing job description template

The development phase involves writing the code and ultimately creating a complete program. You can complete various steps in the development phase in code sections referred to as features, allowing the developer to test and amend the project as necessary. Make it clear to the applicants that you expect them to test each component and debug it upon completion.

Your Java developer job description also needs to describe the deployment phase, which involves transferring code to a live environment. The code must be fully functional before deployment since modifications can only occur in the testing environment. The developer must be well-versed in one or several of the following skills to complete the deployment phase:.

Finally, you must include the system maintenance and optimization phase in your job description. Java developers are supposed to maintain active systems and identify opportunities for improvement. Maintenance work includes:. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, and there's also a way to hedge your bets. Qualifications can be either "required" or "preferred. If they're preferred, then you have a lot of discretion about whether someone actually needs them or not.

You can require some qualifications and prefer others. If you use "preferred" for at least some qualifications, you may have to read through more applications, but you may also find a gem where you least expect it. How important are educational and other formal credentials to performing the duties in this job description or to the standing of the position? Do you simply require all your staff to have college or advanced degrees?

For some positions, these kinds of questions have obvious answers: if you're looking for a doctor or a nurse or a lawyer, she'll need not only specific degrees but other certifications -- such as passing the Bar Exam -- in order to legally do the job at all. A psychologist or social worker needs certain academic and other credentials in order to be reimbursed for his work by insurance companies.

But how about a teacher in a community-run school or an adult education program? Or a job counselor in an employment training agency? What does the person actually need, and are you possibly depriving your organization of someone really wonderful by requiring certain degrees? Here's where "preferred" can be really useful.

On the other hand, how will this person be viewed in the community? Who will she have to deal with as a colleague, as an advisor or consultant, or as a supervisor?

Is it important for her credibility that she have academic credentials that match or exceed those of others in the community or in her field? If so, then those credentials must be required. Why does she need it? She's being asked to testify before legislative committees, to network with colleagues in the community, to make community and other presentations.

She may not need the degree in order to do these things well, but she definitely needs it for credibility in these and other situations. Hiring someone without a degree in an appropriate area would be doing that person a disservice in this case, because it would put her at an immediate disadvantage in a number of situations.

These are the skills and knowledge directly related to the performance of the job you're hiring for. A doctor needs to know about various diseases and medical conditions, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, etc. The fact that they both need to be able to do some basic math is not specific to either of their jobs, even though they couldn't do those jobs without it.

If you've done your job, you have a job description that should tell you just what the skills and knowledge are that the person you're hiring will need.

Let's look at our Community Health Educator again, and determine what job-specific skills and knowledge she needs. According to the list of duties and responsibilities we developed for the position, the major part of the job revolves around teaching and counseling skills, particularly on health issues.

The ideal candidate, then, would probably have some teaching experience, some counseling experience, and a knowledge of health issues, in addition to her degree in a related area, if you've decided upon that.

So which of these criteria will you require, which will you prefer, and which will you ignore? Unfortunately, you usually have to deal with the difference between "ideal" and "actual. But, in reality, it's more likely that you'll find a person you really like who has only some of these particular credentials.

The question you have to resolve here is what's most important to you. If the person you want has no health experience, for instance, are you willing to train her or get her trained in that area in return for the other assets -- perhaps personality traits, perhaps exemplary teaching skills -- she brings to the job? What skills or experience would you absolutely require regardless of how much you liked her in every other way? Teaching expertise? A welcoming personality? Knowledge of the workings of the health care system?

It depends on the perspective of your organization, on what you believe can be easily learned in a relatively short time, and on what you regard as most important for this person to accomplish. When money for health education became available statewide from a tax on tobacco products, an adult literacy program received funding to run a health education program for its students and the community.

The coordinator chosen for the program was already a staff member of the organization. While she had no direct experience in health education, she was an excellent teacher, had a great personal interest in health, and was highly organized. Within six months, she had become so well-versed in health-related issues and so knowledgeable about particular areas -- smoking cessation, stress reduction, breast cancer, and others -- that health professionals in the community were coming to her for advice.

She created a program that was recognized as one of the best in the state, even though she'd had no previous direct experience or education in the health field. Just as both the doctor and the mason need basic math skills, everyone needs skills and knowledge that aren't intrinsically related to his job title, but are required to do the job.

The Community Health Educator, for instance, would have to have good communication skills for public presentations, testimony, networking, and outreach , clerical skills, a high degree of organization paperwork, record-keeping, juggling a lot of different responsibilities , and computer literacy maintaining a database. Some of these skills may not be included in job descriptions or selection criteria, because it's assumed that anyone of a certain educational or occupational level will have them.

It's dangerous to make that kind of assumption, however; if you don't ask for what you want, there's a good chance you won't get it. Be direct about what the position demands, and you're more likely to hire someone who can handle it. There are a number of characteristics which are neither learned nor acquired by experience, but are nonetheless important for success in particular positions.

There are others you might expect from anyone in your organization, which reflect your organizational character and the things you believe in. Some of these may not fall in the area of qualifications, but many do. These could include Our Community Health Educator's qualifications would probably include initiative -- especially if she's expected to start the program from scratch -- and the ability to get along with people.

But it's in this category of criteria that those unspoken standards come into play. The applicant's personality may have a lot to do with whether she gets hired or not, even though that's not directly stated. How she dresses may be important -- not messily, but not too well, either, so that she doesn't put off or intimidate the low-income people with whom she's working.

Writing job descriptions when you've never done the job can be a bit intimidating. You'll want to be sure to talk to anyone at your company who is more familiar with the job, especially for help writing the description of responsibilities. You can also check out the job descriptions we've created for hundreds of jobs that will get you started with a sample job description format. You can start with our job description template Word format download. Click "File" and select "Save As. Include traits that a successful applicant must have in order to succeed in the job.

For ideas, check out our job requirements guide. We've got job posting templates that are aimed at helping you write descriptions that attract potential employees on job boards.