Most neo­phyte work­ers or even freshly grad­u­ated mem­bers of the work­force will jump into jobs with­out know­ing their job descrip­tions. This prac­tice is under­stand­able. Many of these fresh grad­u­ates are just glad to have got­ten a job and will try to avoid being to nosy or pushy when it comes to work. They may think that ‘demand­ing’ a job descrip­tion will be an added neg­a­tive to their employer’s impres­sion of them.

This could not be more wrong. Employ­ers, in gen­eral, delight in employ­ees that ask about their job descrip­tion. This shows that the employee has an inter­est in know­ing the specifics of his or her job and would like to know what his or her spe­cific respon­si­bil­i­ties are. Here are a few other rea­sons why job descrip­tions are truly impor­tant to employ­ees and even to those who are search­ing for jobs.

1. Knowl­edge of Duties

A job descrip­tion will fur­nish you with a list of your respon­si­bil­i­ties and duties. This will ensure that you know what jobs you are sup­posed to do and which jobs you are not sup­posed to do. Just “guess­ing” is not an option. How­ever, you may be try­ing to do your best doing jobs that are not your duty and respon­si­bil­ity to per­form. The result of which, on paper, is that you are not doing your job.

If you end up doing jobs that are not in your job descrip­tion. You will not be cred­ited with those jobs.

2. Pre­vent Being Taken Advan­tage Of

There will be instances when as an employee you will be asked to do spe­cific duties that are not in your job descrip­tion. It is per­fectly legal to point to your job descrip­tion and say that the par­tic­u­lar job does not fall under your job descrip­tion. You will, of course, have to do this politely.

You may, of course, choose to do these duties. How­ever, make it clear that what you are doing is not within your job descrip­tion. You and your man­ager may then choose to talk about whether these duties should be included and the proper remu­ner­a­tion for such.

3. What Mat­ters to Your Employer is Paper

There have been count­less employ­ees who have come forth say­ing, “we did our best, worked over time, and gave our all, but did not receive the proper acknowl­edge­ment.” Unfor­tu­nately, employ­ers will be too busy to keep track of your per­for­mance. You may have to sub­mit reports on your progress and per­for­mance. This, of course, should be based on your job descrip­tion or else it will not make any sense to your employer.