How to read a job description and person specification

The job description says what the job involves. The person specification says what the employer wants in the person doing it, and in public sector recruitment it carries more weight because it is the marking scheme. Shortlisters go through it line by line, and an application with no evidence for an essential criterion is usually rejected, however strong it is otherwise.

The two documents side by side

A public sector job pack normally has both, sometimes in one file.

The job description (sometimes “job profile” or “role profile”) sets out the purpose of the post, who it reports to, the main duties, and often the pay band or grade. NHS job descriptions tend to be long because they are written for banding under Agenda for Change. Council ones are often written to fit a job evaluation scheme. Teaching job descriptions frequently refer to the Teachers’ Standards instead of listing duties in full.

The person specification is usually a table. Down the side are headings such as qualifications, experience, knowledge, skills and personal qualities. Across the top are columns for essential, desirable and how each item will be assessed.

Civil Service adverts look different. There is no separate person specification. The advert lists the Success Profiles elements for the role, such as named behaviours, experience and technical skills, and says which will be assessed at which stage. Those listed elements are what you are marked against, just as with a person specification. Civil Service Success Profiles explained covers that format.

Essential and desirable

Essential criteria are the minimum. If you cannot show them, the panel is entitled to stop reading. That sounds harsh, but it is also what keeps public sector recruitment relatively fair: everyone is measured against the same list.

Desirable criteria separate a crowded field. When many applicants meet every essential criterion, shortlisters use the desirable ones to decide who goes through, so covering them well can get you an interview for a popular post.

A few practical points:

• If a qualification is essential, check whether “or equivalent” or “or equivalent experience” is written next to it. If it is, you can make a case from experience.
• Values or behaviours are often listed as essential. They need an example behind them, the same as skills do.
• Guaranteed interview schemes for disabled applicants, such as Disability Confident, only apply if you meet the minimum (essential) criteria.

The “how assessed” column

Most NHS and council person specifications have a column marked with letters such as A (application), I (interview), T (test) or R (references). It tells you where each criterion will be scored.

Anything marked A needs covering in your application or supporting statement. Anything marked only I can wait for the interview, though have examples ready. T usually means a written or practical exercise on the day.

With no such column, assume every criterion could be assessed from the application and cover them all.

Reading the duties list

The duties list helps in two ways beyond telling you what you will do.

It gives you vocabulary. If the job description talks about “maintaining accurate records on the electronic patient record system”, use that phrase when you describe your record-keeping experience.

The order and amount of space given to each duty also hint at what matters day to day. A post where two thirds of the list is about supervision is a team leader job, whatever the title says.

The catch-all line at the end, often “any other duties commensurate with the grade”, is standard and does not mean anything unusual is expected.

Check the pay information against the advert too. The job description may give a band or grade while the advert gives a salary, and How to read the salary on a public sector job advert explains spine points, pro rata figures and supplements.

Turning the specification into a plan

Before writing anything, copy the person specification into a document and make each criterion a heading. Under each one, note an example from work, study or volunteering that shows it. Gaps become obvious straight away.

Then write your statement in roughly the order of the person specification, using the criterion wording near the start of each paragraph so the shortlister can tick it off. For longer examples, the STAR method keeps them on what you did and the result.

It feels mechanical, and it is. Shortlisting is a scoring exercise, and the application that makes the panel’s job easy is the one that gets through.

When something is unclear

Most public sector adverts name a contact for informal enquiries. A short call to ask what a vague criterion means in practice, or how much weight a desirable item carries, is normal and does not count against you. If you need adjustments to the process because of a disability, the same contact or the HR team can arrange them.