Should Employers Simplify Job Descriptions?

Often businesses tend to list all kinds of things in a job description for a particular role, to try and find a candidate that has a broad area of expertise, even if many parts of what they have listed in the job description are not even part of the job, or have been something that comes up rarely and not often.

It’s ok trying to cover for all aspects of the job, and potential aspects to make it easier for the employer, but by doing that you could be turning away a potential asset who has some of the skills and experiences you required, but not all of them.

There is no real way of knowing if the person you have in the interview is lying about their skills and experiences, and in many jobs it’s the liars that get those jobs and wing it as they try to learn what they don’t actually know on the job. Often those who tell the truth are not seen by the employers, as they are looking at them on paper and not as a person.

Employers should assess what’s an acceptable level of risk to them and their business, and if they find somebody they loved in an interview and has the right personality, but is lacking in some areas, they should take advantage of that asset and hire them; there is always room to accommodate and to aid them in training on the job so they will have those skills and experiences, thus growing with the company.

Besides hiring a person with a rock solid work history with many years in the field could also opens up whole other issues, such as stubborn people who know what they know and become difficult to adapt to certain changes, and even difficult to work with in the workplace.