24+ Sample Job Lists

What Is a Job List?

Much like a job checklist, the job list is an official document that enlists every specific activity or task to accomplish in a job. The list itself encourages a call-to-action message so that individuals assigned to perform the tasks at hand would know what to do from start to finish. And oftentimes, the job list is given to new hires, trainees, and whoever needs a clear introduction of what roles and responsibilities must be carried out in business.

Did you know that about 157.54 million employees worked in America in 2019?

Also, Microsoft News confirmed that 76% of American citizens keep a to-do list.

Why Is a Job List Important?

A job list is not exactly required but having it reduces the chances of errors in managing your tasks. This detailed list basically prevents you from forgetting all your roles. Hence, it is important when you want to succeed in carrying out your responsibilities, especially during times with a heavy workload. Also, job lists answer the crucial questions when you create a job posting because aside from the list of responsibilities, you can add other essential elements like the job title, job description, job qualifications, and even who to report to.

Most importantly, job lists are not only needed in business or job matters. You can create it for your personal workload too. In fact, 76% of US citizens kept to-do lists, which are similar to how job lists work. Other functions for this list are a student’s classroom activity list, a summer house cleaning job list, and so much more. Thus, do not limit its use for employee use only.

What Are the Elements of a Standard Job List?

There is no perfect example of a job list because there are varying jobs, different purposes, and a wide range of tasks out there. But if you want to know what basic job lists are like, expect the list to have the following elements:

Title: It is critical to have a title, and the words “job list” must be present. You need a specific title so your list won’t be referred to as any other type of document. Otherwise, someone who found the list might throw it in the garbage after thinking that it was just an old daily to-do list that is no longer important. Yet, it is actually an essential list for new hires at work.Purpose: After mentioning that job lists could not only help employees but also every student or just about anyone, then the job list should specific its statement of purpose. This is your chance to clarify what the job list is for, whether it is for school, restaurant, construction—you name it.Job Description: For business-driven job lists, a job description should be a short narrative to describe the tasks in general or what to expect from the entire work. In other words, this is the introductory statement of how to use the job list, what the labels and details encoded there are, and other important instructions.List of Tasks or Responsibilities: Now of the main dish, you should have the whole list of tasks or responsibilities in your job list. It is so easy to prepare because you only need to write down the itemized list of tasks similar to how a task checklist looks like. That means each task is enumerated along with checkboxes beside them to indicate your progress later on. Put a checkmark in the box for every item you accomplished.Assigned To: If a single job list has a load of tasks that is divided for a team or members, then it is necessary to assign tasks. This is helpful when the responsibilities are too much to handle for one person. Thus, make a section where you write the names of who is assigned to work on specific tasks.Status: There are certain responsibilities that can be worked on in different phases. Hence, completing them might not happen right away. To ensure that tracking progress is made easier, make a status section. This practice also helps status reports become more streamlined. The status section is where you note down if a task is in progress, finished, in whatever phase it is, canceled, etc.Priority Level: Also an important part of a job list is the priority level. Similar to the layout of a priority list, tasks are labeled or arranged according to their level of priority. Of course, the most important ones or the items at the top rank should be given enough attention in your whole workload compared to those that are not that much of a priority.Schedule: Your job list must have a proper work schedule so you will know the specific time and date of working on your tasks. The same goes for when to begin and resume operations or that you need to cover certain responsibilities in a whole week, perhaps. Whether the tasks are scheduled hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly, make sure the schedule is crystal clear.Due Date: Besides the priority level, the urgency level is another factor to consider. And this is where due dates play a great part in a job list. Deadlines help you set a goal by ensuring you can finish each task before the deadliest deadline. You can also arrange tasks according to urgency so you can tell what must be done first until last.Notes: Place an extra section for notes to prepare for other possible things to write down in the list eventually. You can basically use the notes section for anything from feedback, observations, proposed salary, job budget, and more.

How to Make an Effective Job List

After being introduced to a job list’s description, importance, and significant elements, you now have an idea of what makes up an effective job list. But how will you create it? In this section, you will learn the six easy and crucial steps to create a decent job list.

Step 1: Know the Purpose or Job Itself

It is a bad idea to just make a job list pronto without a clear understanding of the job or purpose behind making it in the first place. At this point, you should know what the job list is for. You can also come up with a task or job analysis to not only understand the whole job but also to identify the necessary tasks that are relevant to that job. And this step is critical as the foundation of the job list because you will know what to write there eventually.

Step 2: Pick a Template to Use

Now that you got a clearer understanding of the job list’s whole point, begin searching for the right sample job list template. This post comes with a list of sample job lists that you can use to edit, download, and print your job list without bothering to make one from scratch. Thus, making a job list gets easier on your part. Your only concern is to change and edit the details of your chosen template until you can personalize it according to your strategic plan.

Step 3: Insert the Complete Elements of a Job List

Take a review of a job list’s main elements which were discussed earlier to set up a complete standard job list. By having the title until the notes segment, you can bet that your output will be effective. Also, you can add more elements that you think are relevant to your job list. An example is to set up a rotation schedule rather than a fixed schedule if the specified time and date working on tasks will change from time to time. What matters most is that you are in control of the list if making it is your responsibility.

Step 4: Write Specific and Clear Tasks

A job list gets less confusing when the tasks enlisted there are straightforward and clear. Keep the task instructions short as long as they are direct to the point. And in regards to clarity, read the enlisted tasks, again and again, to review if they are concise and understandable enough. If you plan on making the job list for someone else, then the person assigned to the tasks at hand might get confused with what you are trying to say. The same goes for the importance of relevance because maybe you made a whole list of career job lists yet the enlisted tasks were all related to school. That is already a fail.

Step 5: Organize Your Job List

Another tip to come up with an easy-to-follow job list is by focusing on organizing the list’s content. An example is to divide the elements of a job list into columns of a table. Or perhaps, you come up with an organizational chart for an easier presentation of enlisted tasks rather than a long paragraph form. Organization can also be achieved through proper labeling and color-coding like when you use red color for every task with high priority, blue for medium, and yellow for the least important ones. How to organize the list also depends on your creativity.

Step 6: Finalize the Format and Update the List Regularly

Your next goal is to finalize your desired format, design, and structure of the job list. For example, should the job list be printed or you simply keep a digital copy instead? Make the most out of the sample’s customizable features since you can definitely alter its content anytime. And most importantly, you should update the job list on a regular basis. Indeed, the job list guides you on what to do. But it gets difficult to distinguish which tasks are already done, not yet done, or still in progress without written updates. Just like project tracking sheets, don’t forget to denote the progress of each task there.

FAQs

The most common jobs in the US are as a police officer, electrician, marketing specialist, registered nurse, lawyer, software developer, truck driver, and operations manager.

How many employees are in America?

According to Statista’s 2019 research survey, there were 157.54 million employees in the US.

What is a job description?

A job description is a short statement of what to expect in performing a certain job. It basically lists down the tasks, requirements, or skills to manage duties. And it must be concise and well-written.

What are the types of a job?

It is said that a job is divided into four types. These are the thinkers, builders, producers, and improvers.

A job list is your reliable tool to keep track of every task and ensure that things run productively in the process. However, a poorly crafted and disorganized job list can’t promise you that. And this is why sample job list templates are available so you won’t have to bother working on the format, design, and other tedious tasks expected of making job or project lists from scratch. Start building a clear path of all expected job tasks to complete now!