Describe it; why a job description is key!

When it comes to recruiting the right candidate for your dental vacancy there is one foundation that you should put in place; a well written and informative job description.

But why is the humble job description to important? What part does it play in finding someone who is right for your role? Ultimately, having a good job description on your advertisement means that the person looking for a job in the dental industry can make sure that they themselves feel right for the role, or if you are using a recruitment specialist; they can ensure that the candidate is a good fit.

Legally, once employed every person in the practice should have a job description, but having it from the outset is a great way to ensure that they understand what is to be expected of them and in turn what they can expect from their employer.

But where do you start?

The first thing to do when crafting your job description is to look at the three fundamental points that every single one should have:

• Definition
• Responsibility
• Attractiveness

Definition is to allow the candidate to know what the role is and how it fits within the framework of the practice. One thing to think about when defining the role is using internal terms and language. Whilst you may understand some of the jargon that your practice uses, the person who is reading your job description may not. Try to cut down on the amount of acronyms and specialist language that you use so to not alienate those applicants.

Responsibility is particularly key when it is a managerial role that is being advertised. Knowing what will be expected of them during their day to day routines and tasks; aspects such as how many staff they will be managing and who will report into them as well as who they report into are important.

Attractiveness also plays a part in the job description. You will want it to appeal to prospective candidates but on balance it is important not to lie or embellish the truth as this can cause issues later on down the line.

Putting together a job description that covers these basics will be a great start to getting the right candidate for your dental vacancy.

You can also keep in mind that there are some common pitfalls that seem to catch out companies when creating and posting their job description.