Creating Job Descriptions | Secrets of the Game Business (Game Development Series)

This crucial first step in the hiring process is often not given the full attention it requires and when not thoroughly implemented, is the primary cause of a hiring process going awry. Without a clear, complete, and detailed job description to reference, the hiring decision is often made on an emotional level, based on whether someone likes or feels good about a candidate rather than determining who is best qualified according to the needs and requirements of the position.

The following is a summary of the five fundamental steps to creating a job description.

Determine the hiring manager. Who is going to make the actual decision to extend an offer? Ideally there should be just one person responsible for making the final hiring decision. If this is not practical, then it is important to restrict the number of people involved to as few as possible. You can certainly use the entire team in the interview process and consider the resulting input, but the actual decision of whom to hire is critically important and should not be put to a "team vote" any more than other important management decisions. Imagine taking your entire family and extended family along to buy your next car and allowing everyone to have veto power in the decision. Do you believe you would end up with the best car for your needs or just a car that everyone agreed on? It is the team leader or manager who has the best perspective and understanding of what the needs are that this new hire will address. In business, only the people most qualified to make a particular decision should be empowered to do so.
Determine what the needs are. What are the specific needs that this position will address? Make sure that everyone involved is in agreement as to these needs.
Position responsibilities. What responsibilities will this person have? What will this person be expected to accomplish? What specific tasks will this person perform on a daily and weekly basis? What management or leadership responsibilities will this person have?
Required skills and bonus skills. Clearly define the necessary skill-set to succeed in the position. Also determine what skills would be an additional benefit, but are not a necessity.
Personality. Are you looking for a strong leader? A team player? Someone who works independently? Someone adept at resolving conflict? Determine what personality traits or attributes would have the most bearing on a candidate succeeding in this position as well as the company as a whole. Now is the time to determine what type of individual you are looking for and what type of individual works best in your company culture.

Your completed job opening document should include job title, who this position reports to and who would be reporting to them, hiring authority, responsibilities—this includes both duties that would be performed on a daily basis and longer-term objectives for this position, skills required, skills that would be beneficial, a brief sentence or two about beneficial personality attributes desired, and finally, a salary range.

Make sure that you have created a job description that can be done by one person. Sometimes managers amalgamate several distinct positions' needs into one. Care should be taken that a job description doesn't become a wish list that no one candidate could fill. When the document is completed, revisit the hiring authority(s) to make sure everyone is in agreement. This is a very important step. Everybody might agree that you need a technical director, but there might be several different opinions as to what exactly a technical director does and is responsible for.