Overview
A wide range of different positions are required to keep government agencies going. To help ensure the right people are placed in those positions, HR specialists may support agencies in writing position descriptions (PD) to define titles and descriptions of the various levels of work. A "PD" is a statement of the major duties, responsibilities, and supervisory relationships of a position. As an HR specialist, your ability in develop proficient PDs is directly related to your agency’s hiring efforts. This course will guide you in that effort, enabling you to support the federal position classification process to encourage uniformity and equity in the classification of positions.

How You Will Benefit
In this four-week online course, you’ll learn:

  • Multiple position description formats and style preferences, including, narrative, general schedule non-supervisory (FES), General Schedule Supervisor, Federal Wage System Non-Supervisory, and Federal Wage System Supervisory.
  • Which frequent challenges and possible solutions a classifier might face in the development of an official position description.
  • How to write Position Evaluation Reports and conduct desk audits
  • Why different factors, such as organizational structure and function, procedures, operational workflow, work projects, cycles, minor and major duties, can impact how you write a position description.
Who Should Attend
  • Entry-level HR specialists (GS 5, 7, 9) who classify positions.
  • Other functional, HR practitioners (Staffing, Employee Relations, Labor Relations, HR Information Systems and HR Generalists) who need to understand the basis for writing position descriptions in the federal government.
  • Department supervisors involved in the development and revision of position descriptions.
Prerequisites
We highly recommend you take our Effective Writing for HR Professionals course prior to attending.

Additional Information
This four-week online course is a combination of weekly web-based training (WBT) and webinars:
  • Week 1: 2 hours WBT
  • Week 2: 2 hours WBT
  • Week 3: 2 hours WBT
  • Week 4: 90 min WBT; 90 min webinar
Length
9 hours

General HR Competencies Emphasized
Attention to Detail; Classification; Legal, Govt & Jurisprudence; Planning & Evaluating; Workforce Planning; Client Engagement; Change Management; Decision Making; Information Management, Writing

CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | July 7 - August 1, 2025

Status: OPEN
Location:      Online
Facility: Online
Tuition: $903
Class ID: 27392


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | March 3-28, 2025

Status: OPEN
Location:      Online
Facility: Online
Tuition: $903
Class ID: 27402


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | August 1-30, 2024

Status: LIMITED
Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on August 30, 2024 2:00PM-3:30PM (Eastern)
Cost: $821
Class ID: 26886

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by August 29, 2024 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | March 1-29, 2024

Status: FULL
Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on March 28, 2024 2:00PM-3:30PM (Eastern)
Cost: $821
Class ID: 26885

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by March 29, 2024 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | August 28-September 21, 2023

Status: FULL
Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on September 21, 2023 1:00PM-2:30PM (Eastern)
Cost: $746
Class ID: 26429

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by September 21, 2023 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | March 1-March 31, 2023

Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on March 23, 2023 1:00 PM-2:30 PM (Eastern)
Cost: $746
Class ID: 26428

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by March 31, 2023 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | August 1-26, 2022

Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on August 24, 2022
Cost: $500
Class ID: 26082

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by August 26, 2022 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | May 2-27, 2022

Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on May 25, 2022
Cost: $500
Class ID: 26081

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by May 27, 2022 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | January 31-February 25, 2022

STATUS: Cancelled

Location: **4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar on February 23, 2022
Cost: $500
Class ID: 26080

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by February 25, 2022 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | October 1-December 23, 2021

Location: ** 4 Weeks-Blended-Self-Paced and Webinar
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25993

**To receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by December 23, 2021 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  


CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | September 3-30, 2021

Location: **Blended-Self-Pace and Workshop
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25639

**In order to receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by September 30, 2021 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  

CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | August 2-27, 2021

Location: **Blended-Self-Pace and Workshop
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25638

**In order to receive credit for this blended course you will need to complete the course by August 27, 2021 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  

CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | June 7-July 2, 2021

Location: **Blended-Self-Pace and Workshop
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25637

**In order to receive credit for this asynchronous course you will need to complete the course by July 2, 2021 otherwise you will be marked incomplete.  

CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | May 3-28, 2021

Location: **Blended-Self-Pace and Workshop
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25636

**IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS BLENDED COURSE YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE COURSE BY MAY 28, 2021 OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE MARKED INCOMPLETE.

CL004: Writing Position Descriptions | April 5-30, 2021

Location: **Blended-Self-Pace and Workshop
Cost: $500
Class ID: 25635

**IN ORDER TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS BLENDED COURSE YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE COURSE BY APRIL 30, 2021 OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE MARKED INCOMPLETE.