Analyzing Job Description, Essay Example

Ajilon, a professional staffing firm has a job posting for financial analyst position on popular job-search website Monster.com (Ajilon Professional Staffing). The job posting is missing many important information that could help a potential candidate better understand the requirements of the job, the employment terms, as well as evaluate the opportunity against similar other opportunities. Using the guidelines recommended by FindLaw (FindLaw, 2009), a better job posting has been developed and given below:

Job Title

Financial Analyst

Job Objective

Developing, maintaining, and analyzing financial information, providing recommendations and information to the interested parties within the organization.

Requirements

B.S. Degree in Accounting or Finance, 3+ years of Relevant Experience, Proficient in Microsoft Office, Proficient in Financial Models, CPA, CMA, or MBA preferred

List of Duties

Board Presentations, Monthly/Quarterly Meetings, Partner with Accounting, Tax, and Treasury as Appropriate, Building Relationships with Other Departments

Relationships/Roles

Reports to CFO, Work both in Teams and Alone.

Job Specifications

Financial Data Analysis, Month End Account Reconciliations Experience, Treasury Analysis, Business Forecasting, Strategic Financial Planning, Banking Operations, Research

Job Location: Portland, OR 97204

Salary/Benefits: $50,000 – $60,000, Health Insurance, Company Sponsored Retirement Plan, Two Weeks Annual Paid Vacation

Effective job descriptions are concise and clear (Sayed) but this job description is very general in nature and doesn’t give specific information that may increase the probability of more high-quality applicants. To make the job description more effective, I took out general information such as amazing benefits and fantastic work/life balance and added more specific information such as salary in a range of 50,000-6000 as well as health insurance and two weeks paid vacation among other benefits. This information will give the applicant a better idea of the compensation plan that comes with the job.

I also added ‘List of Duties’ section so that the applicant knows what he/she may be responsible for at the minimum and whether he/she has the skills to fulfill the minimum job responsibilities expected of him/her. The job description didn’t include who the applicant may be required to report so I added that as well in addition to the fact that the applicant should be a self-starter as well as possess teamwork skills. I also added job specifications such as financial data analysis and business forecasting which the original job description skipped.

The original job description is less reliable because by skipping lot of specific job information, it increases the possibility of a huge gap between an applicant’s expectations and the employer’s expectations. The posting also sends the impression that the employer may be having difficulty filling the position which is why he has skipped details to encourage more applicants to apply.

References

Ajilon Professional Staffing. (n.d.). Financial Analyst. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from Monster.com: http://jobview.monster.com/Financial-Analyst-Job-Portland-OR-104270597.aspx

FindLaw. (2009, April 1). What Are You Looking For? Writing Effective Job Descriptions. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/04/01/businesspropicks-us-findlaw-writing-effe-idUSTRE5304Z120090401

Sayed, D. (n.d.). Write effective job descriptions. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/write-effective-job-descriptions-HA001189474.aspx