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What Is Job Description?

A job description sets out the purpose, responsibilities and requirements of a role.

An educational definition from the HR glossary. Explore related terms below, or jump into the resource center to go deeper.

Definition

A job description sets out the purpose, responsibilities and requirements of a role.

Why it matters

It gives everyone a shared definition to attract, screen and interview against.

Examples

Illustrative example. A clear description separates must-have from nice-to-have requirements.

For the practical detail behind this term, follow the related metric, template and resources below.

Free, printable HR resources

Templates, checklists and calculators to put these concepts into practice — free and ungated.

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For informational purposes only. This is an educational, plain-language definition — not legal, tax, financial or compliance advice and not an official definition. Terms and obligations vary by organisation and jurisdiction. Numeric examples are simple, placeholder-based illustrations, not data. Confirm specifics with qualified professionals.
Related concepts

Related glossary terms

Keep exploring the HR vocabulary.

Glossary

Recruitment

Recruitment is the process of finding, evaluating and hiring people for open roles.

Open Glossary

Candidate Screening

Candidate screening is the first filter that assesses applicants against role requirements to decide who advances.

Open Glossary

Competency

A competency is a defined skill, behaviour or capability needed to perform a role well.

Open
Measure it

Related metrics & calculators

Recruitment metric

Time to Fill

Time to fill measures how long a role takes from opening to an accepted offer.

Open Calculators

HR calculators

Quantify the metrics in your browser.

Open Hub

HR metrics hub

How HR measures are defined and read.

Open
Put it into practice

Related templates

Template

Editable Job Description Template

A clear job description sets up the whole hire.

Open
Go deeper

Related resources

The clusters that put this concept into practice.

Lifecycle

Employee lifecycle

The full employee journey, stage by stage.

Open Operations

Employer operations

Run the workforce as a repeatable system.

Open Planning

Workforce planning

Strategy and organizational design.

Open Compliance

HR compliance

Documentation, records, data and policy.

Open Templates

HR templates

Free, printable, placeholder-based templates.

Open Playbooks

HR playbooks

Step-by-step plays for people processes.

Open Technology

HR technology

Automation, analytics and systems.

Open Funnel

Recruitment funnel

Sourcing through to accepted offer.

Open Reporting

HR reporting & dashboards

Turn people data into clear views.

Open AI for HR

AI for HR

Where AI assists HR, responsibly.

Open Resource center

HR resource center

The central map of every cluster.

Open

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Job Description?

A job description sets out the purpose, responsibilities and requirements of a role.

Why does Job Description matter?

It gives everyone a shared definition to attract, screen and interview against.

How is Job Description measured?

It connects to the HR metric linked on this page, where you can find the formula and how to read it. This glossary entry is an educational definition, not a data source.