4.5 Person specification

Once the job and organizational analyses and the job description have been completed (see Figure 1), the next stage is to write a specification of the kind of person needed to fill the job you have just described. It is important to be as precise as possible about the skills, knowledge, qualifications and attributes that are required for the job and about the experience and personal characteristics that are needed. It is good practice to specify what is essential or the minimum required to perform the job, as well as what is desirable. To decide on the qualities required for the person specification you need to pick out key features from the job description. Think also about the context of the job and the wider organisational requirements to specify any elements of person-organisation fit that are important.
Table 1 is an example of a completed person specification; we have added some imaginary aspects of person-organisation fit under ‘Personality’.
When constructing a person specification you need not follow the format described in the table; your organisation may have a standard approach. The exact format of the person specification is less important than making sure you capture what the suitable applicant requires in order to perform the job and fit with the organisation's way of working and culture. You will have noted the ‘How ascertained?’ column in the table. This signals the need to think through how you will measure or assess the specification you are looking for.

Table 1: Person specification for the position of Buying Department Manager

Characteristics	Essential/minimum	Desirable	How ascertained?
Physical attributes	Good health record	Excellent health record	Medical report
	Few absences from work		Previous employers' sickness records
	Tidy appearance	Smart appearance
		Creates good impression on others	Interview
		Capable of working for long hours under pressure	Give examples at interview
Mental attributes	Top 50 per cent for general intelligence, verbal ability and numerical ability	Top 30 per cent for general intelligence, verbal ability and numerical ability	Possible use of selection tests
Education and qualifications	Good general school results with particular aptitude for English	Two A-levels (post-16 higher examination) or equivalent Certificate or Diploma in Management	Qualification certificates
	Membership of professional body	Membership of professional institute	Documentation
Experience, training and skills	Five years’ experience in purchasing	Ten years’ experience in purchasing	Curriculum vitae (CV)
	Two years’ experience of supervising small office or section	Successful record of supervising qualified staff	CV/interview: examples
		Successful completion of reputable management training course	Attendance/qualification certificates
		Good social skills
		Fluent in two European languages, including English
	Ability to write good reports and understand basic financial information	Ability to plan, organise, coordinate and control work under pressure	CV/interview: examples
Personality	Career record shows ability to adjust to normal social circumstances	Mature and socially well adjusted	Interview
	Thrives on challenge and change and has an ability to develop new approaches to the work	Able to communicate at all levels	Interview
		Evidence of experience of dealing with external clients	CV
Special circumstances	Able to work overtime and at weekends	Willing to work long hours when required, and to transfer to other locations in Europe	Person's experience
	Able to travel to suppliers	Fully mobile with valid driving licence	Interview

(Source: based on Cowling and Mailer, 1981, p. 19)

Activity 2

15 minutes
If you have a job description for your current post, construct a person specification for the job based on a format similar to that in Table 1. Decide what you think should be in the person specification, even if this differs from any actual person specification there may be for your job. Alternatively, or in addition, you could do this for a person who works with or for you. If you do not have a description for your current job, try to work from the main duties and responsibilities you have. (This may convince you that it is easier to work from a fairly thorough job description.) Also, in constructing this person specification, try to indicate some person-organisation fit requirements which may be relevant to your own situation.
Physical attributes
Mental attributes
Education and qualifications
Experience, training and skills
Personality
Special circumstances
When you have completed this task, check what you have written, bearing the following points in mind.

· Have you thought about the qualities needed to cope with the difficult parts of the job?

· Have you considered any particular qualities that would be required to fit the culture of the organisation?

· How carefully have you thought through the education/training needed for the work? Remember that qualifications are only one way of knowing what people have to offer. Skills and experience gained in a whole variety of contexts – for example parenting, voluntary work, leisure interests – can sometimes be just as relevant.

· Have you included any rigid requirements based on age, physical ability or length of paid work experience which may be questionable on equal opportunities grounds and constitute ‘indirect discrimination’ (specifying a criterion that would effectively debar someone because of their ethnic group, gender, age, disability, etc.)?

· Have you said which qualities and attributes would be essential and which desirable? Remember, if something is ‘essential’ you should be able to justify it.

· Is the specification credible? Do such people exist? Are they likely to apply for the salary offered? What are the options if the answers to these questions are probably ‘no'?