How to Write a Report of Your Job Function

Use actionable and professional language in your job function report.

Whether you are building your resume or you are acting on an order from your human resources department, you may one day have to write a report on your job function, which essentially means distilling what you do at your company into words. Although this might sound like an easy task, many jobs are multi-faceted, and thus you can easily find yourself overwhelmed or at a loss when trying to describe your job function. Be sure that when you do write such a report it is done so in a professional, concise and clear manner.

Instructions

1. Understand the mental and physical tasks you execute on a regular basis for your job. Examples of mental tasks may include analyzing charts and spreadsheets, computing numbers, managing personnel or editing documents. Examples of physical tasks may include lifting objects, putting objects together or cleaning.

2. Analyze how you execute these tasks. What equipment do you use? What software do you use? You should be able to describe the process you take to complete all of your duties.

3. Explain how your job relates to the rest of the company. How does your function affect the overall goal of the company? If you are in sales, for example, describe how you sell the company's products and services to generate revenue. If you are an administrative assistant, describe how your assistance improves the functioning of your department.

4. Use actionable verbs as often as possible when writing your report. You want the report to have a sense of action. Do not rely on mundane verbs such as conjugations of "to be." Consider using words such as "manage," "analyze" and "create."

5. Structure your report so that you arrange your duties in order of importance. You don't have to make it blatant, such as by writing "first," "second" and "third." But you do want to create a hierarchy that accurately reflects what is most essential about your job and what is least essential.

6. Proofread your report to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors. You want to appear professional and competent to your superiors and your human resources department.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not lie on your report. If you try to pad your job function, your boss or HR may eventually find out.

References

• Performance-Appraisals: Uses of Job Description and Job Analysis
• Entrepreneur: How to Write a Job Analysis and Description
• Guardian: Review Your Job Title