I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work in both the public and private sector, and I can relate with the frustrations and irritations of developing and maintaining job descriptions.\u00a0 One of my first jobs in the public sector was working in a film library for a university.\u00a0 The classification that I worked under was Office Specialist, which did not relate at all with what I did eight hours a day, five days a week.\u00a0 I think that the position of Office Specialist was a cookie cutter title that the university used for a large swath of different titles.\u00a0 The Office Specialist was a clerical position, similar to what a secretary or executive assistant might be.\u00a0 This was a way for Oregon Higher Education to bunch people together into a particular \u201cclassification\u201d, which would then be attached to your more narrowly defined job description.\u00a0 Each classification had pay scales, which were usually taken as yearly step increases, topping out after eight years.\u00a0 There where also different levels of classification, such as Office Specialist 1, 2 and 3, each with a slightly higher pay and step increases.<\/p>\n
I took it upon myself to try and change the classification, based on my job description.\u00a0 The process was overwhelming for a change in classification.\u00a0 I was told the process could take upwards of a year, and that there was no guarantee that management would change it.\u00a0 I did end up getting re-classified, but it was with immense support from my direct manager, the Dean of the school I worked for, and other managers that I had asked for there help.<\/p>\n
A few words regarding the public sector.\u00a0 The HR departments in the public sector are not going to be as pragmatic and proactive as the private sector (in my opinion).\u00a0 Job description and classification analysis at the university that I worked for did nothing close to annual reviews or evaluations.\u00a0 The university was more reactive to staff complaints when positions did not align with descriptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work in both the public and private sector, and I can relate with the frustrations and irritations of developing and maintaining job descriptions.\u00a0 One of my first jobs in the public sector was working in a film library for a university.\u00a0 The classification that I worked under was Office Specialist, … Continue reading My Challenges with Developing and Maintaining Job Descriptions<\/span>