Visual Basic —

Defining the Job Description

Now that you know the sort of person you're looking for, you need to document your requirements. This is vital.

The cornerstone to any employment decision begins with job analysis, which is the systematic assembly of all the facts about a job. The purpose is to study the individual elements and duties. All information related to the salary and benefits, working hours and conditions, typical tasks and responsibilities are required for the job analysis. Competition and equal employment opportunity legislation (the myriad laws, guidelines, and court decisions concerning equal employment opportunity make job analysis necessary) has made job analysis a mandatory organizational consideration for most businesses.

Job descriptions are written based on job analysis information. A job description describes a job, not an individual doing the job. The job description is derived from a requirement in an organization and is an essential element in the correct selection and evaluation of employees. Job descriptions are also the basis on which a job advertisement is written.

Every job should have a job description, which can be mailed to any interested parties before the interview. The job description might help you easily filter unsuitable candidates as some will drop out once they've had a chance to see what the job will entail.

Writing style

Job descriptions should be written using brief, clear sentences. The sentence structure should follow the "implied subject-verb-object-explanatory phrase" format. It's generally to your advantage to use action verbs like "programs" and "analyses," for example.

Sample job description

A job description is a written description of the major duties and responsibilities for any job applicant. Here's a sample TMS job description for a developer based on the well-known Hay/MSL format, although we have also included a "person specification" so that everything we want is contained in one document:

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Developer

REPORTING TO: Project Manager

DATE: As Required

PURPOSE: Work with and mentoring the client's own staff on specific projects, and equally for internal company projects. Provide high quality, cost effective technical services within given timeframes and budgetary constraints to ensure optimum customer satisfaction and business driven solutions.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

The key areas of responsibility for the employee are as follows:

Ensure that a high quality technical service is provided to both the external client and for internal projects in the specific areas of design, programming, and software testing.

Write technical documentation for external clients and whitepapers suitable for publication on the company Web site or in technical magazines as requested by any of the company's managers, in order to maintain the company's profile within the industry and to promote the company's services.

Contribute to the development of technical training courses and running briefing sessions on technical issues for the clients' staff as required.

Accompany TMS consultants on client visits as required and provide in-depth technical support as necessary in order to maximize all sales opportunities for the company and to ensure the highest quality service for the prospective client.

Contribute to company Technical Days by giving formal presentations or leading more general discussions regarding current projects or case studies and ensuring that the overall objective of "knowledge sharing" with colleagues is achieved.

Ensure that the company's vision to provide the highest quality software development and client services is achieved and maintained at all times.

ORGANIZATION CHART:

PROFILE OF EMPLOYEE

Essential requirements include:

  • Minimum 8 years experience of having worked within the IT industry, preferably within a software services company or consultancy, in a role requiring multiple external client contact and service provision
  • Minimum 5 years hands-on Windows development experience
  • Minimum 4 years hands-on Visual Basic development experience
  • Minimum 4 years hands-on database/SQL programming experience
  • Desire and ability to work relatively unsupervised on external client sites
  • A self-managing, self-motivated individual who can demonstrate a successful history of remote working
  • A quality, focused individual with proven customer interaction skills

Desirable qualifications include

  • Graduate-level degree in computer science or other science subject
  • Appreciation of software engineering disciplines and methodologies
  • Knowledge and experience of traditional or object design, architecture, and implementation
  • Working knowledge of any of the following: SQL Server, Access, and MSOffice suite/VBA
  • Knowledge and experience of client/server systems development
  • Working knowledge of any of the following: Windows NT, Java/J++, C/C++, Active X technology, COM/COM+/DCOM, RDO, ODBC
  • Microsoft Certified Professional (versions 4, 5, or 6)
  • Clean driving record

Salary Research

Research the industry standard remuneration for the position you need to fill and then add 5 to 15 percent if you want to be competitive. Research salaries regularly and make sure your current workforce benefits from this research as well as any new developer. Also, develop your own company salary policy stating where you want to be in terms of the salaries and benefits you offer to your staff. For example, do you want to pay at the median level, the upper quartile, or the top decile for the IT industry or for your geographical area? Decide where you want to be and then compare where your current salaries fall, and then adjust if necessary.