Job Descriptions

Strangely, so far my jobs have not been obtained through the typical selection process. I have been fortunate enough to be recruited for jobs rather than searching for them through job postings. Unfortunately, that means I don’t have much experience in being able to compare the descriptions to my actual jobs. 

An example of a job that I had was an administrative assistant at a real estate company. The position was unique because I was in school and would be splitting time with another employee who already held the position. She was balancing two office locations so I took over the afternoons for her when she went to the other office. I ended up in this position because some of my family members work for the company and I know the owners. Rather than a reading formal description I shadowed the other employee and watched what she typically did in a day. She also wrote up some specific tasks that needed to be accomplished daily like transferring phones at the end of the day and locking up. 

In my experience the job was exactly like she described and I followed the tasks that could be performed routinely. However, there was an adjustment period when there were issues she couldn’t prepare me for. There were always unique situations coming up that I would have to adapt to and figure out as I went along. Overall, I felt like I had a good sense of what the job would require after shadowing her for a couple of days. However, if I had just read a description I am not sure if I would have wanted to apply for the position. It would have been hard to describe because it required a lot of flexibility and learning on the fly. 

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4 Comments

  1. Hey Courtney,

    It sounds like you have had a unique path of jobs throughout your life! It is so nice to have connections with people who can help streamline the application process for a job you are interested in. I like the detail you included about shadowing a fellow employee and learning about your role through job shadowing. This can be a great way to learn the ropes of a company or a position in the company. I’m glad that the job that was outlined matched up well with the actual job you had, and I’m sure you handled the unique situations that came up very well! Thank you for sharing, great post!

  2. Hello Courtney,
    I enjoyed reading your post! It’s really neat that you were able to shadow someone and learn about all the tasks you would be carrying out. It’s totally understandable that if you had seen a job description of all the tasks, you may have been hesitant to apply for the job. Since these people knew you before, they must have thought you were fully capable and would do well working there. I’m sure you will be able to use many of the skills you aquired working there throughout your career.

  3. That’s really interesting that you have received all of your jobs through means other than applying for them! That makes it hard to do an assignment like this where we’re discussing the usual process, but I think you did a good job of relating your experience. I’m glad you were able to learn from someone what the job was like because I feel like that is a better way to learn about the position anyways. Good post!

  4. Hi Courtney!
    My current job I got in a similar way! I knew the manager who ran the store and needed a job, luckily it was something I was interested in! I think it is so much better to be able to shadow someone and gain that experience! it can really help when learning how to do the job and see how someone else might do it as well. Job descriptions I agree can turn you away from wanting to apply especially if you don’t feel qualified for the position they’re hiring for!

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