The first problem I have noticed with job descriptions is that they can tend to be a bit vague. At least where I work, when doing internal applications the job descriptions give you an extremely brief idea of what you will be doing. This makes it hard to understand what will be needed of you because there is little to no information. It mostly seems like the company does not want to go through and fix job descriptions to be more accurate. This also seems to be a problem in a lot of companies. They will post about a job with little information about what it is that you are actually doing. This lack of information may keep people from applying since they do not know what you actually have to do.
The second problem I have noticed is that the description is out of date. This is stated in an article by Gere Consulting, “Compare your business today with what it was five years ago. Chances are it is different”. In this part of the article they are writing about job descriptions being out of date. It seems like some companies do not look back and realize how different the company is now. So much changes over time, but leaving the job description the same may not be beneficial. If a job description is more than 2-3 years old, there probably were some changes and updates to be made.
Overall, not all job descriptions are bad, but could use some improvement. One way to fix a vague description would be to analyze the job and update the description to match. It will be beneficial to potential candidates to know exactly what they are needing to do. If a description is too vague it may turn them away. As for out of date descriptions, that needs to be fixed also. A way this could be done is by updating the description every couple years. Keeping it as up to date as possible is the best way to help potential employees and employers know what is necessary for that particular job.
Gere, A.-lise. (2022, June 8). The six common problems with job descriptions problem job description. Gere Consulting Associates. Retrieved April 27, 2023, from https://gereconsulting.com/the-six-common-problems-with-job-descriptions/
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