Irving H. Buchen, an HR researcher and consultant, is a member of the doctoral business faculty at Capella University. Here are his tips for making the job description more interactive (his remarks appeared on the website Human Resource Executive Online):

--Render the job description as both a descriptive and evaluative PDF document, ideally posted on the company website.

--Tie the job description to the performance evaluation system to ensure updating.

--Design the document as an interactive and responsive form open to applicant inquiry.

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--Build in a series of gatekeeper qualifications for each major area of responsibility and each skill set.

--Create prompts to guide prospective applicants' access to information.

--Limit your initial implementation to a few highly competitive, hard-to-fill jobs. See whether the new system makes a difference, measured by both the quality of applicants attracted and the degree to which they self-select.

Plant Managers a Good Example

To illustrate an applicant who might seek specific information, Buchen takes the example of a plant manager. They are hard to find and hard to keep. Their value is that they are know-it-alls. Nothing escapes them. Nothing about their plant is too small, trivial, or distant for them to dig into. And that's the way they are when they look for a job—they want to know everything.

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For example, they want to know the extent to which their decisions may be checked by marketing or finance. If there are multiple sites, they want to know whether multidisciplinary or virtual teams provide cross-lateral functions.

The typical "flat" job description offers none of this perspective. And it turns job prospects off.

The bottom line? Give them steak, not pablum, in their job descriptions, Buchen says.

Job Descriptions Are Fundamental

Job descriptions are in many ways the basic HR tool. Yet, as Buchen found, job descriptions are neglected in many organizations.

It's not hard to see why—job description maintenance is easy to put off, and it's not exactly glamorous HR. But that doesn't mean it's not critical.

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Job Description Hassles a Thing of the Past

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