What is a person specification? Two real ones, annotated

A person specification is the list of what an employer wants for a job, split into essential and desirable lines. Each line is a criterion, and shortlisters score your application against them. North Bristol NHS Trust describes it as "a good indication of the criteria that Recruiting Managers will be scoring against" when they shortlist.

Where to find it

There are three usual places.

• On the advert. North Bristol NHS Trust says it is at "the bottom of every advert" the trust posts, split into essential and desirable criteria, and that the recruiting manager will "review each application against the person specification".
• In the application form. On NHS Jobs the criteria are numbered above each box. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) applicant guide shows the form page for an example advert, with "1. GCSE A-C in English and maths" under Essential criteria and "1. Qualified to NVQ level 3" under Desirable criteria, and the prompt "Tell us how you meet each of these criteria."
• As a document. Employers also publish it as a PDF, alone or in a job pack with the job description. The two examples below are both PDFs.

Example 1: a three-column specification

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) publishes a one-page specification for a Staff Nurse at Band 5. It has three columns headed JOB REQUIREMENT, ESSENTIAL and DESIRABLE. The rows fall into five groups: education and qualifications; experience; knowledge, skills and understanding; personal qualities; and personal circumstances. Counting the lines, there are 21 essential and 6 desirable.

Two of the essential lines show the two kinds of criterion:

• "Registered Nurse", under education and qualifications, is a yes or no. You hold it or you do not, and the evidence is the registration itself.
• "Demonstrates compassion.", under personal qualities, cannot be ticked. A shortlister can only see it in something you did, which is what an example is.

A line like the second needs this shape. It is a frame to fill from your own work. The short lines after "Made up" are invented to show how much one line holds, so replace them with things that really happened to you.

Criterion: "Demonstrates compassion."

• When and where: the setting and the dates (a ward, a care home, a placement, a year). Made up: a surgical ward, night shifts, March to September 2025.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself, in plain words. Made up: stayed with an anxious patient before a scan and explained each step.
• What happened: what changed for the patient, the family or the team. Made up: she went into the scan calmer, and her daughter was told how it had gone.

Example 2: a specification with an assessed-by column

NHS Lothian publishes its Staff Nurse (Band 5) specification for a stroke unit ward in the same PDF as the job description. It has four columns: Criteria, Essential, Desirable and How assessed. The five rows are personal traits; qualifications and training; experience and knowledge; skills and/or abilities; and specific job requirements. Counting the lines, there are 9 essential and 2 desirable.

Above the table it says "In order to be shortlisted you must demonstrate you meet all the essential criteria and as much of the desirable as possible." When a large volume of applications are received and most applicants meet the essential criteria, it says "the desirable criteria is used to produce the shortlist".

A key under the table explains the codes in the last column:

Code	Where the line is judged
A	Application form
I	Interview
C	Copies of certificates
T	Test or exercise
P	Presentation
R	References

The codes sit on the row, not on each line. Personal traits are A,I,R. Qualifications and training are A,C,I,R. Experience and knowledge are A, I. Skills and/or abilities are A,I,R, and so are specific job requirements. Every row carries A and I, and none carries T or P.

What the codes mean for your statement

NHS Lothian's key says A is the application form, which is the part you write, so a line with A needs an example there. The key does not say a line without A can be left out: Flintshire County Council's pack asks you to show every essential line on your application, even those marked Interview (see the support worker guide). Answer the A lines in full and cover the others briefly.

Codes combine. Qualifications and training are A,C,I,R, so the same row is judged from the form, the certificates, the interview and the references. Every row on this specification carries A, so each one needs something on your form.

The SaTH specification has no codes. With no key, treat each essential line as one to evidence, and look in the advert for anything that says how it is assessed.

The two layouts compared

Neither PDF prints a date, so check the specification on your own advert.

Feature	Shrewsbury and Telford (SaTH)	NHS Lothian
Job	Staff Nurse, Band 5	Staff Nurse (Band 5), stroke unit
Columns	Job requirement, essential, desirable	Criteria, essential, desirable, how assessed
Groups of rows	Five	Five
Essential lines (counted)	21	9
Desirable lines (counted)	6	2
Says where each line is judged	No	Yes, a code on each row
Says how shortlisting works	No	Yes, in a note above the table
What to do	Treat each essential line as one to evidence	Evidence every row that carries A

Turning it into a checklist

1. Put each criterion on its own line, essential lines first.
2. Mark the lines judged from the application: those with A, or every line if there are no codes.
3. Mark the yes-or-no lines, such as a registration or a GCSE. They need the fact: what you hold, from whom, and the year. The healthcare assistant guide shows a qualification line.
4. For the other lines, note one real example each, then write them in the order the specification lists them. Essential and desirable criteria explains how shortlisters use the two kinds.
5. Check the draft against any limit. How long a statement should be lists the limits employers publish.

You can also check your draft against the person specification to see which criteria still have no example.