Attaining a Job as a Clerical Officer The person specification describes job qualities which are essential and desired in order to do the Clerical Officer job to the standard which Durham County Council want. Qualifications and experience are shown in phase 1, and phase 2 shows the personal qualities, these are then split into essential and desired qualities. This allows candidates and Durham County Council to quickly judge whether or not they are appropriate for the job. The benefit of it is that it is easy to follow so that applicants know what Durham County Council require and allows the candidate to assess themselves before applying for the job which means they will not apply if they are not suitable for the job. They will have included this information in two separate tables as it is useful for applicants because it will reduce the chances of rejection and time wasting as they are able to assess themselves. It is useful for Durham County Council as they are not wasting any time assessing or interviewing unsuccessful applicants and therefore saving money as staff cannot work whilst interviewing candidates. The person specification is set out in a simple and neat table form. This allows the applicant to quickly check if they have the qualities which are essential and if not, they know they are not suitable for the job. Durham County Council can also quickly asses the candidate to see if they have all the necessary skills which they want as if it were a tick list, allowing ease and maximum speed with minimal confusion. It doesn’t look like it requires a lot as it is set out in 2 separate tables (phase 1 an... ... middle of paper ... ...bilities which reduce the chances of early leaving as they know what to expect from the job. This overall saves time and money. It also allows them to relate previous skills to ones they need for the job now so that they can impress and prove that they are capable of doing the required tasks. It allows them to see if they have the correct qualifications and experience and they can assess themselves before applying to see if they have what they are looking for. Sonia related her behaviour and skills and allowed us to see how she suits the job giving the advantage of time saving as we don’t have to decide if we think she is capable of carrying out the job. However down sides of this are it gives them the chance to say they can carry out more duties than they actually can just so they can get the job.