In Figure 3-4, for example, the first task listed for a “welfare eligibility examiner” is “decide (determine) eligibility of applicant in order to complete client's application for food stamps using regulatory policies as guide. “Beneath this task are listed the analyst's conclusions concerning the knowledge a welfare eligibility examiner is required to have; any special skills or abilities; types of physical activities involved in this task; special environmental conditions; typical work incidents; and the sorts of interests that would correct spond to this task. The analyst would typically use his or her own knowledge of the job as well as information obtained through interviews, observations, logs, or questionnaires in completing the job analysis record sheet.
Almost any job can be broken into its component tasks, each of which can then be analyzed in terms of knowledge required, skills required, and so forth. The Civil Service procedure thus provides a standardized method by which different job can be compared and classified. In other words, the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform, say, an assistant fire chief’s job can be compared with those required to perform a librarian's job. If the requirements are similar, the jobs might be classified together for, say, pay purposes.