Learn English – Difference between Job duties and Job description

meaning-in-contextword-difference

I am an assistant of ABC cake shop.
Here is some information about my position on a job leaflet:

— Age: over 17
— Clean tables
— Buy food
— Take orders

One of my senior workers called this a job description other than job duties, and it made me confused.

If my friends ask me what I do in the shop everyday, I will tell them, "I need to clean all shop tables, help the master chef buy the food he wants, note down customers' orders."

Can you tell me the difference between job duties and job description?

Best Answer

There's room for flexibility here, but job duties sounds like a list of duties that come with the job. It's a list of what the employee is expected to do:

  • Clean tables
  • Buy food
  • Take orders

On the other hand, job description sounds more like a description of the job, which would include the job duties, but often goes beyond the duties; for example:

  • Must be at least 17 years old
  • Must be willing to work until 10PM on weekends
  • Must have a valid driver's license

(These aren't duties, because they aren't things that the employee would do.)

So, job duties are part of a job description, but job descriptions often include both duties and qualifications. Like I said, though, there is plenty of wiggle room. For example, I've also heard position description used in place of job description.

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