The way a position is described, structured, and justified within the business can be the difference between an application that sails through and one that gets questioned, delayed, or refused.
This is not just about writing a job description. It is about presenting a role that is clear, genuine, and consistent with the occupation being claimed.
The Department of Home Affairs is not simply checking whether a role exists. They are assessing whether it is:
Genuine: The position must be a real one that the business actually needs, not one created to facilitate a visa outcome.
Necessary: There should be a clear business reason for this role to exist at this level within this organisation.
Consistent with the occupation: The duties must align with what the selected occupation code actually covers. A role nominated under a senior management code should have senior management responsibilities.
Clearly defined: Vague or overly broad descriptions are harder to assess, and harder to assess means more likely to be questioned.
A strong role description for a sponsorship application has a few consistent characteristics.
Specificity. Rather than listing generic duties that could apply to almost any business, the description reflects what the person will actually do in your specific organisation. It names real responsibilities, real systems, real workflows.
Alignment with occupation. Every major duty in the description should connect clearly to the occupation being claimed. If the occupation is an accountant, the duties should be accounting duties, not administrative tasks with a few accounting items included.
Appropriate level. The seniority and complexity of the duties should match the level of the occupation. If you are nominating under a manager-level code, the description should reflect decision-making authority, team oversight, or strategic responsibility.
Fit within the business. The role should logically belong within the structure of your business. A large restaurant can credibly employ a head chef. A home-based business selling handmade goods probably cannot credibly support a full-time IT manager. The role must make sense in context.
There are two opposite mistakes employers commonly make.
Over-broadening: Listing every possible duty the person might ever do, regardless of relevance to the occupation. This makes the role seem unfocused and creates ambiguity about what the person will actually be doing. Immigration officers reading a description with 20 loosely related duties will struggle to see a clear and coherent role.
Under-describing: Submitting a description that is so brief or generic that it tells immigration nothing specific. Two-line descriptions or templates copied from job boards are unlikely to support a strong nomination.
Both approaches come from good intentions — employers either want to be comprehensive or keep things simple. But neither serves the application well.
Start by answering these questions honestly:
The answers to these questions are the foundation of a strong role description. From there, it is a matter of articulating them clearly and connecting them to the occupation.
Aim for a description that is specific enough to paint a clear picture, but not so exhaustive that it loses coherence.
The job description does not exist in isolation. It is one piece of a larger picture, and every piece needs to tell the same story.
The occupation must match the duties described. The salary must be appropriate for the level of responsibility in the description. The business size and structure must be able to credibly support this role. Labour Market Testing advertisements must describe the same role that appears in the nomination.
When all of these elements align, the Department can assess the application efficiently and confidently. When they do not , when the job description says one thing, the salary suggests another, and the occupation points somewhere else, that inconsistency raises questions that slow the process down.
Labour Market Testing (LMT) involves advertising the role in Australia before lodging the sponsorship application. The job description used in those advertisements must be consistent with the description in the nomination.
One of the more common issues we see is businesses advertising a slightly different version of the role during LMT (sometimes broader, sometimes more generic) and then submitting a more refined description in the nomination.
Even small inconsistencies between the LMT advertisement and the nomination job description can prompt questions from the Department.
Using a consistent, accurate description from the beginning of the process is always the better approach.
How long should the job description be for a sponsorship application?
There is no fixed requirement, but one to two pages of well-written, specific content is typically appropriate. Length matters less than clarity and accuracy.
Can I use my existing job ad or position description?
You can use it as a starting point, but it should be reviewed and adapted specifically for the sponsorship nomination. Generic job advertisements are often not specific enough for immigration purposes.
What if the role has changed since it was first advertised?
If significant changes have occurred between the advertisement and the nomination, this needs to be disclosed and explained. Consistency is important, unexplained differences raise questions.
Does the role description need to include salary?
The salary is a separate field in the nomination, but it should be consistent with the level of responsibility described in the role description.
Not sure how to describe your role for a sponsorship application? Seven Corp can help you structure the position correctly — so the description supports the nomination, not the other way around. Book a free consultation today.