• Choose a format you like from another advert in your chosen publication and use it as a model.
• Provide a high resolution logo from your company or golf club
• List the company, location and job title
• Give a description of what the job involves
• Give a brief person-specification (without excluding candidates through age, sex, race or religion) including the experience and qualifications that the person you are looking for should have.
• List some of the benefits the job carries – including salary range. For greenkeeping jobs it is desirable for the salary range to fall within the guidelines of the Standing Committee on Greenkeepers’ Salaries.
• Do not try to include too many words in too little space. It is always much more rewarding to reduce the number of words or increase the amount of space you book. You may save money by cramming a load of information into a small space but the advert will look unattractive, not show your organisation in the best light and, perhaps, not attract as many applicants.

If you are looking to recruit new members to your team for the coming year, then STOP! Look no further!

The Greenkeeper International recruitment pages are here to help you match the right person to the right job. With a monthly circulation reaching over 9,000 people, targeted direct to your industry, you will be guaranteed to find a high calibre of candidates to fill your positions.

All adverts booked for four weeks on the website will have the option of a 1/6th page advert in Greenkeeper International FREE OF CHARGE.

All design work for the magazine is included in the price. (Maximum of 120 words for magazine copy - logo can be included)

Please note that the cut off date for recruitment advertisements printed in Greenkeeper International is the 15th of the month preceding publication.

Recruitment rate

• Half page: £1,270
• Quarter page: £815
• Sixth page: £645 (approx. 120 words)
• BIGGA website only: £445 two weeks / £645 four weeks

Call 01347 833800 to book your space or email [email protected]

Job descriptions and specifications are essential. They are required so that the employer and the applicants can understand the job role. They are necessary for all people in work because a job description defines a person's role and accountability. Without a job description it is not possible for a person to commit to, or be held accountable for, a role.

Below is more information on why job descriptions and specifications are essential and some examples. 

Job descriptions improve an organisation's ability to manage people and they should:

• Clarify employer expectations of employees
• Provide a basis of measuring job performance
• Provide a clear description of job role for candidates
• Provide continuity of job role irrespective of manager interpretation
• Enable pay and grading systems to be structured fairly and logically
• Provide a reference guide in issues of employee/employer dispute
• Provide a reference guide for discipline issues
• Provide reference points for training and development.
• Provide reference points for appraisals, performance reviews and counselling

Job Description should include:

• Job Title
• Location of job (Golf Club)
• Person that the individual reports to (line manager title, location, and functional manager, location if matrix management structure)
• Job purpose summary (ideally one sentence)
• Key responsibilities, duties and accountabilities (8-15 numbered points)
• Dimensions/territory/scope/scale indicators (the areas to which responsibilities extend and the scale of responsibilities - staff, customers, territory, products, equipment, premises, etc)
• Date and other relevant internal references

For senior employees’ job descriptions it is useful to break key responsibilities into sections covering functional, managerial, and organisational areas.

The most difficult part of a job description to produce is the Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities section. Large organisations have generic versions for the most common organisational roles - so don't re-invent the wheel if something suitable already exists. If you have to create a job description from scratch, use this method to produce the 8-15 responsibilities:

1. Note down in a completely random fashion all of the aspects of the job.
2. Think about: processes, planning, executing, monitoring, reporting, communicating, managing people, resources, activities, money, information, inputs, outputs, communications, time.
3. Next combine and develop the random collection of ideas into a set of key responsibilities. (A junior position will not need more than 8. A senior one might need 15.)
4. Rank them roughly in order of importance.
5. Have someone who knows or has done the job well check your list and amend it as appropriate.
6. Double check that everything on the list is genuinely important and achievable.

Do not put targets into a job description. Targets are a moving output over which you need flexible control.

Do not have as one of the key responsibilities 'And anything else that the manager wants'. It's not fair, and nobody is ever committed to or accountable for such a responsibility.

Be very careful to adhere to relevant discrimination law when compiling job descriptions, job adverts and person-profiles. In the UK this means that you must not specify a preference according to gender, race, creed, religion, or physical ability.

Follow the links on the left handside to see some example job descriptions for common roles within golf clubs.

Example Job Description - Greenkeeper

Although there are many job titles for workers on golf courses e.g. Assistant Greenkeeper, Greenkeeper, First Assistant Greenkeeper, Foreman, Deputy Head Greenkeeper, Head Greenkeeper, Deputy Course Manager, Course Manager etc, there are three types of job.

These are greenkeeper, supervisor and manager. Because of tradition or local needs, some golf clubs may wish to continue to call their supervisors for example, first assistants, deputy head greenkeepers or deputy course managers. It is recommended that they are all called supervisors for job specification, salary and terms and conditions of service. Similarly, managers can be called for example head greenkeeper or golf course manager. It is recommended that they are all called managers for job specification, salary and terms and conditions of service.

The job specification below shows the range of duties that trained, qualified greenkeepers could perform. Golf clubs can use these specifications to create job descriptions appropriate to their needs and to the capabilities of their staff. For example, a trainee greenkeeper may be expected to perform only a limited range of greenkeeper duties and, similarly, a deputy course manager may not be fully competent in all of the management skills needed by a course manager.

GREENKEEPER JOB SPECIFICATION

A fully trained, qualified golf course greenkeeper must be competent in the following:

• Monitoring and maintaining health, safety and security in the workplace
• Responding to emergencies
• Switching and brushing
• Mowing banks, rough and semi-rough, surrounds and approaches, tees, greens and fairways
• Scarifying/verticutting turf
• Aerating and irrigating turf
• Applying nutrition and top dressing
• Repairing divots
• Identifying and controlling weeds and pests
• Identifying and control of turf diseases and disorders
• Preparing ground for and establishing turf
• Identifying grasses on the golf course
• Marking of hazards, out of bounds and ground under repair
• Moving tee markers
• Maintaining bunkers
• Maintaining golf course furniture
• Changing holes
• Rolling turf
• Driving a tractor with implements
• Undertaking routine machine maintenance and preparing machinery for use and storage
• Measuring green speed and interpreting the results
• The rules of golf relating to golf course maintenance
• Preparing ground for and establishing plants on the golf course
• Maintaining trees and shrubs on the golf course
• Identifying plants on the golf course
• Communicating effectively
• Dealing with disagreements/conflict
• Keeping management informed
• Understanding their roles and responsibilities

NOTE: All of the above tasks must be carried out in a manner that minimises environmental damage.

Example of a GREENKEEPER JOB DESCRIPTION

Golf Club Name: Sunnygreen Golf Club
Title: Greenkeeper
Reports to: First Assistant
Based at: Sunnygreen Golf Club, Rolling Hills, Hampshire, RH56 7YT

Job purpose:

To carry out routine golf course maintenance tasks as directed by the First Assistant, in accordance with the Club’s Golf Course Maintenance Policy, its Health and Safety Policy and the Greenkeepers Code of Conduct.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

1. Cut tees, greens, surrounds, fairways, rough and semi rough.
2. Set up the golf course, including changing holes, moving tee markers, indicating OOB, Drop zones and hazards.
3. Switch and brush greens
4. Apply top dressing and fertilizer
5. Identify and control pests and diseases
6. Renovate worn and damaged turf
7. Prepare and maintain machinery