Analyzing challenges behind developing and maintaining job descriptions in the current day and age.
By: Gage Ekström
Hello all! I hope you are having a great week and if you are a college student that midterms are treating you well.
In today’s day and age, the experience of finding a job can be tedious and aggravating. This is also not alleviated due to the fact that the descriptions in job postings can be convoluted and complicated. However, in my experience there are common themes between the job postings that have been the most clear and straightforward, and which I have been most interested in.
The biggest thing that I could recommend to employers seeking new staff is to make the KSAO’s in a job description as clear as possible. As seen in this week’s lecture: W4 Lecture 1 – Job Analysis, KSAO stands for the following:
- Knowledge
- Skill
- Ability
- Other Characteristics
Information gathered from: Oregon State University’s MGMT 453 – Mike Cieri, 2025
If a company can define these as clearly as possible in their job description, it will better connect them with the most qualified candidates and people who are most interested in the job. This makes the job search experience better for not just the job seeker but the company posting it as well.
For example, I applied to a job at Portland General Electric, and they clearly laid out the required knowledge an employee would need to be successful in each of their postings, as well as the necessary skills and abilities needed. This made it much easier to know which jobs I should even apply to based on my skill level, and then made it much easier to talk about my strengths in those subjects.
While there are many other ways that companies can improve the way they develop their job descriptions, it is also important that they are updated constantly as well. As senior HR generalist, Jill Bidwell, says; ““Ideally, what is put in the job description can create a job posting and performance goals. It walks into a development plan for training you need. From a rewards perspective, it helps us benchmark other jobs,” (Tyler). As Jill puts it, job descriptions are not just good for hiring employees, but ensuring that they are supported and trained to the best of their ability as well.
Sources Cited:
Tyler, Kathryn. “Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions.” Welcome to SHRM, 21 Dec. 2023, www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions.
