How to Write Your Own Job Description (With Tips and Examples)

With so many educational resources at your disposal, you may find that you’ve professionally outgrown your current job duties. Perhaps you’ve learned an arsenal of new skills that can benefit your employer and your career path.

As a result, writing your own job description could assist your company in making better use of your time and talents.

That said, writing effective job descriptions isn’t always easy. Continue reading below to learn how to describe the new kind of role you want to take up with your organization.

Crafting an effective job description is a crucial step for establishing any new role in a company or organization. Whether filling an entirely new position or updating an existing job, taking time to thoughtfully write or refine the job description helps ensure the role is designed and communicated in the best way.

As an employee or manager, you may find yourself needing to create or update a job description for your own role. Writing your own job description requires following key steps and best practices to produce an accurate, appealing description.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore how to successfully write your own job description, including:

Deciding what you aim to do
Determining the need for a new position
Crafting an engaging job title
Describing how the role supports company goals
Writing the job summary and duties
Listing required qualifications and competencies
Formatting and polishing the description
Pitching the role to decision-makers

With the right approach you can craft a job description that clearly defines the role, responsibilities and requirements in a way that attracts qualified candidates (or makes a case for your employer to establish a new role).

Step 1: Decide What You Want to Do

The first step in writing your own job description is clarifying the goals and priorities of the role Ask yourself

What are my core objectives in this job?
What meaningful work do I want to accomplish?
What value will I bring to the company?

Outline the kinds of tasks and projects you want to undertake, along with the problems you can help solve. This grounds the job description in the tangible day-to-day work.

For an existing job, analyze how the current role does or doesn’t align with your goals and where there may be room for expansion or change.

Step 2: Determine the Need for a New Position

If proposing an entirely new role, you need to establish the need. Explain how the position fills a gap or addresses an unmet need in the company.

Research and compile evidence demonstrating the benefits like

Revenue increases from launching a new initiative the role will oversee
Time and money saved from having dedicated staff on specific tasks
Improved customer satisfaction scores from expanded services the role will provide

Quantifying the upside for the business strengthens the case for adding a new job.

Step 3: Create a Job Title

Develop a job title that is:

Concise: Keep it short but descriptive. Lengthy titles get truncated in databases.
Informative: Communicate the essence of the role. Terms like “associate” or “analyst” are vague.
Unique: Avoid duplicate titles that create confusion between roles.
Professional: Use recognized job names that match similar industry positions.

The title should specify the role’s function and level, such as “Social Media Marketing Manager” or “Customer Support Specialist.”

Step 4: Describe How the Job Supports Company Goals

Explain how the position aligns with and furthers the organization’s broader objectives. Show how the role contributes specific value.

For example:

A Customer Success Manager builds loyalty and retention by enhancing the customer experience.
A Data Analyst improves decision-making and strategy by extracting key insights from customer data.

Connecting the job to tangible business outcomes demonstrates its necessity.

Step 5: Write the Job Summary

The job summary (or overview) concisely states the role’s primary function, key duties, and responsibilities. Summarize the most vital details about the day-to-day work itself.

For example:

Serve as lead web developer responsible for front-end design and architecture of company website. Convert mockups and wireframes into responsive, mobile-friendly web pages and products using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and web development frameworks.

Keep the summary clear and succinct. It offers the first introduction to what the role entails.

Step 6: List Key Job Duties

The job duties section provides a bulleted list of the core responsibilities and regular tasks required in the role.

For example, a Social Media Manager’s duties may include:

Manage all company social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn
Create, curate, and publish engaging text, image, and video content
Monitor and respond to user comments, messages, and inquiries across platforms
Run social media campaigns and promotions to grow follower base and increase engagement
Track key social media metrics and analyze performance to inform future strategy

Group related duties together under subheadings to organize them. Prioritize the 4-6 most important responsibilities at the top.

Step 7: List Required Qualifications

The qualifications section outlines the:

Hard skills and specialized knowledge needed to perform the role’s duties
Level of education and experience required
Certifications or technical proficiencies desired

For example, a Data Analyst role may require:

Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or related field
2+ years experience mining, analyzing, and interpreting large datasets
Expertise querying databases, creating dashboards, and identifying trends using SQL, Python, R, Tableau, etc.
Strong statistical, analytical, and problem-solving skills

Keep qualifications concise but detailed about must-have competencies.

Step 8: Present the Job Description Professionally

Use clear, concrete language – avoid vague or highly technical jargon.
Organize information with concise paragraphs, bulleted lists, and headers.
Proofread carefully to fix any errors.
Use company branding colors and fonts if possible.

A professionally formatted, easy-to-skim job description encourages reading and interest.

Step 9: Pitch the Role to Decision-Makers

Present the completed job description to the hiring manager or executives who can approve establishing the new role or changes.

Be prepared to explain key points like:

How the position benefits the team or company and its goals
What gaps or needs it addresses
How the work differs from or complements other roles
What unique experience you bring to the job

having clearly documented the value and responsibilities of the role in the job description will strengthen your case.

Job Description Examples and Tips

To visualize how these steps come together in different types of roles, here are two sample job descriptions, followed by some additional tips:

Digital Marketing Manager

Overview:
Execute marketing campaigns to promote company brand and products across digital channels. Analyze campaign performance and identify optimization opportunities. Manage all website, SEO/SEM, email, social media, and display advertising initiatives.

Duties:

Plan and execute all web, SEO/SEM, email, social media, and online display advertising campaigns
Design, write, and manage all website content
Achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual growth targets for digital campaigns
Analyze trends in web traffic, ad engagement, and other analytics to optimize campaigns
Build and nurture blogger and influencer relationships to support brand awareness
Oversee design and production of online ads, email templates, and other marketing collateral
Manage relationship with external digital marketing agencies and vendors

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, or related field
5+ years experience planning/managing digital marketing campaigns
Strong analytical skills and data-driven approach
Expert knowledge of web traffic, SEO trends, and Google Analytics
Working knowledge of HTML and email marketing software
Leadership skills to oversee junior staff

Software Engineer

Overview:
Design, develop, troubleshoot, and maintain complex software applications and systems. Collaborate with product managers and engineering team to ideate technical solutions that meet user needs.

Duties:

Design architecture and features for software products using diagrams and flowcharts
Build and iterate on front-end components and interfaces using Angular, React, or other frameworks
Write back-end code to build REST APIs and integrate with databases and third-party services
Identify and troubleshoot issues, defects, and vulnerabilities in existing codebase
Create scripts to automate tasks and improve development efficiency
Document application design, architecture, and API specifications
Work with quality assurance team to ensure code meets functional specifications and standards

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field
3+ years professional software engineering experience
Proficiency with JavaScript/TypeScript and front-end frameworks like Angular and React
Experience with Node.js, MongoDB, SQL, and REST APIs
Working knowledge of AWS or other cloud platforms
Strong debugging, analytical, and problem-solving skills
Ability to lift at least 20 lbs

Additional Job Description Tips

Use action verbs like “compile”, “coordinate”, “develop” to describe responsibilities.
Avoid overly specific lists of technologies that will quickly be outdated. Focus on categories of skills.
Check that requirements do not unfairly screen out qualified candidates unnecessarily.
Adapt language, tone, and details to suit the company culture and voice.
Update the job description regularly as the role evolves.

how to write your own job description

Give Your New Role a Name

The name of your new job should clearly explain its purpose.

For example, let’s say your company has a problem with client retention. In that case, your new role could be called Client Retention Specialist or Customer Relations Expert. If you’re stuck on the name, try researching similar positions in other companies for inspiration.

Map Out Your Credentials and Attributes

Now is your time to shine and explain how you’re the perfect person for this role. List out your experiences, skills, and reasons that make you the perfect candidate for the role. If you’ve been working at your company for several years, that could be a selling point!

You can also list out all the projects you’ve successfully completed and showcase how these tasks give you an advantage. Performance reviews highlighting your achievements can also help convince your employer to give you the new role.

How To Write Your Own Job Description

How do I write a job description?

The goal is to improve your job satisfaction while helping the company, such as saving time, boosting efficiency or increasing earnings. Follow these steps when writing your own job description: 1. Decide what you want to do Start by identifying the projects and responsibilities you desire in your ideal job.

Should you write your own job description?

Reasons you might write your own job description include: Rather than waiting to find the perfect job posting or for your employer to promote you to a better position, take action by creating a new job description and presenting it to your manager. The benefits of writing your own job description include:

How do you write a Responsibilities Section in a job description?

In the responsibilities section of your job description, try to use clear language and avoid unnecessary words or filler. If possible, try to focus the responsibilities that you list on how the employee can grow and develop in the position, as this can entice candidates to apply for the job. Related: Defining Team’s Roles and Responsibilities 5.

What should a job description include?

It should include the specific type of work, how that work will be completed, the skills required for the work, and the purpose of the work as it relates to the organization’s mission and goals. Most employers use a standard job description template. Following this structure helps employment platforms index your job so that it shows up in searches.