👥 HR Template
Job Description Template
Professional job posting with responsibilities, requirements, benefits. Customise for any role.
What a job description should set out
- The role title, and who it reports to
- Employment type and hours: full-time, part-time, casual, and whether hours are fixed
- Location, and whether any part of the role is remote
- The purpose of the role in two or three sentences
- Key responsibilities, as a short list of the things the person will actually spend time on
- Essential requirements, separated from the ones that are nice to have
- The award or classification that applies, and the salary range
- Any inherent physical requirements, licences or checks the role genuinely needs
The essential-versus-desirable split decides who applies
Long lists of essential requirements shrink the applicant pool unevenly, because candidates differ in how closely they think they must match an ad before applying — and the ones who self-screen hardest are often the ones worth interviewing. Anything that could be learned in the first few months is desirable, not essential. The shorter the essential list, the more usable the shortlist.
- Cap essential requirements at four or five, and mean them
- Describe outcomes rather than duties: what this person will have achieved after six months
- Publish the salary range; ads without one get fewer and worse-matched applicants
Staying on the right side of discrimination law
- Only list an inherent requirement if the role genuinely cannot be done without it
- Avoid proxies for age or background, such as “recent graduate” or “energetic young team”
- State that reasonable adjustments are available, and be ready to make them
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General information only — not legal, tax or financial advice. For contracts and tax documents, confirm your obligations with a qualified professional or the relevant authority.