Foo - How unusual is this?

I was asked to write up my own job description and responsibilities today. I'm in the process of being promoted, but the position doesn't really exist. They're going to post whatever I come up with for a position and interview for it, and then I should be hired for it and get a (nice, 25-35%) raise...

This just seems really weird to me. I know that it's a pretty corporate place, so they have to offer the position to everyone in the company, but the whole 'write down what you think you should do and what your responsibilities should be' thing is pretty foreign to me. I need to come up with my job title, too...

So far I've actually been doing the job for the last 3 weeks or so, and what they're asking seems a lot different than what it was supposed to be. I was supposed to just be setting up jobs for the digital printers, but now they have me setting up workflows and I'm supposed to start training people and stuff. I'm telling the CSRs how to give us the tickets, determining how the jobs go through my old department, and coordinating everything through the bindery dept. So it's more than I thought, but I seem to be handling everything, and want to put that on the desc. But that's not the position that they had authorization to post...

Sorry, I'm rambling. Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, having to come up with their own job description.

I kind of doubt I'm going to have it done by the morning. They're not paying me to write right now, after all....

Just post what you are supposed to do, add some generic fluff like "Fulfill the needs of the company as they arise", or something of the sort that sounds better...and fly with it.


They done this at work recently....demanded a PhD for an accounting job....right then I knew it was just a courtesy attempt to "open" the job offer, and they already had a specific person in mind.

Imagine having to interview the guy who's replacing you... but you're not being promoted..

The more vague you make the job-descriptions, the easier it's going to be to command a high salary...

Just post what you are supposed to do, add some generic fluff like "Fulfill the needs of the company as they arise", or something of the sort that sounds better...and fly with it.

That's the whole problem. There is no 'what I'm supposed to do' - I need to create that!

Were it me, I'd write the job description in such a way that I was the only one who could possibly fill it.

Worst case scenario: You write a decent description of what you do, they post it, and an even better candidate than yourself applies and gets hired, leaving you without the promotion or raise.

Were it me, I'd write the job description in such a way that I was the only one who could possibly fill it.
Bingo: "Must be left-handed, and have a deep afinity for the works of Lionel Ritchie. Juggling and Banzai pruning (or equivalent) are also necessary skills.

Hmm - so 'must ride fixed gear bike to work' should be in there somewhere?

:D

Well at least you don't have to do your own evaluation. That was handed to me yesterday. Very tempted to "pad" it a little so I could make it easier to get my transfer to the East Coast. :D


I just left it on my desk.

Actually, they do joint evaluations. I had to fill one out and so did my old boss a couple months ago.

He padded it for me ;)

The more vague you make the job-descriptions, the easier it's going to be to command a high salary...
This is the worst possible startegy. The more vague it is the more possible it becomes for someone else to get the job. Even if they don't give the job to another person, there still could be long delays preventing you from getting it.
The best thing is to identify particular skill and qualifications that you have but that few other people in the company share. Write the job description and qualifications around those.

em

Were it me, I'd write the job description in such a way that I was the only one who could possibly fill it.

Worst case scenario: You write a decent description of what you do, they post it, and an even better candidate than yourself applies and gets hired, leaving you without the promotion or raise.
Worst worst case scenario: A dumb guy with better paper qualifications applies and threatens to charge the company with discrimination. The company delays for 6 months but finally relents and promotes him, but he's p!ssed AT YOU because it took so long. And he's your boss now.

That's the whole problem. There is no 'what I'm supposed to do' - I need to create that!

I'm sure Merton wishes he had your problem.

Well at least you don't have to do your own evaluation. That was handed to me yesterday. Very tempted to "pad" it a little so I could make it easier to get my transfer to the East Coast. :D


I just left it on my desk.

We used to have to do that. Didn't matter what you put down, you weren't getting a bigger raise than anyone else. I put some generic crap down in a few places, left the rest of it blank. My manager fluffed it out quite nicely so now I just copy that every six months. It's a pile of meaningless, worthless, waste of paper and time.

My evaluation will have an impact on whether or not:

1) I can obtain my transfer to another division
2) I can maintain my position if not get a promotion
3) Maintain my rate of Cali pay to what they offer over there.

I worked for a large corporation for about 12 years. In that time I wrote my title and job description 3 times. They had an unwritten rule that you were either elligble for promotion every couple of years or you were on the way out. There was never an existing position to promote me into, so we made new ones.

I agree that being vague is a bad idea. Be as specific as possible, add as many duties that are valuable to the company as possible and desribe the education and skills that are required to perform those duties thoroughly.

SB

Well at least you don't have to do your own evaluation. That was handed to me yesterday. Very tempted to "pad" it a little so I could make it easier to get my transfer to the East Coast. :D


I just left it on my desk.
Stop being like me.

I was asked to write up my own job description and responsibilities today. I'm in the process of being promoted, but the position doesn't really exist. They're going to post whatever I come up with for a position and interview for it, and then I should be hired for it and get a (nice, 25-35%) raise...

This just seems really weird to me. I know that it's a pretty corporate place, so they have to offer the position to everyone in the company, but the whole 'write down what you think you should do and what your responsibilities should be' thing is pretty foreign to me. I need to come up with my job title, too...

So far I've actually been doing the job for the last 3 weeks or so, and what they're asking seems a lot different than what it was supposed to be. I was supposed to just be setting up jobs for the digital printers, but now they have me setting up workflows and I'm supposed to start training people and stuff. I'm telling the CSRs how to give us the tickets, determining how the jobs go through my old department, and coordinating everything through the bindery dept. So it's more than I thought, but I seem to be handling everything, and want to put that on the desc. But that's not the position that they had authorization to post...

Sorry, I'm rambling. Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, having to come up with their own job description.

I kind of doubt I'm going to have it done by the morning. They're not paying me to write right now, after all....
i want a job like that.

Well, good news and bad news. I never had a chance to write up the description, so my boss just kind of slapped together something. Then HR didn't even use it, they just put up their 'standard' prepress position. It'll be posted tomorrow.

My boss called and said 'I STRONGLY encourage you to apply for that position.'

So I'll still be coming up with my own responsibilities, they just won't be written down on paper. Which is good if it turns out that I end up hating something that I think should be part of the job, but bad if they end up thinking I should be doing something that I don't think should be part of it... We'll see I guess.

And I might be stealing another prepress guy that I know is really good with the digital stuff and kind of stagnating at the shop he's at. He's really good, and I know he'd totally be able to help out, plus it would probably be more money for him. You should have seen the wheels spinning in my boss's head when I was like 'Saw you interviewing someone yesterday - you're hiring on the offset side too? Cuz I know this guy that's good with all the digital stuff, but he also knows Preps and has been working with Prinergy for a couple of months...' We're supposed to be getting Prinergy soon, and no-one we have has used it before...

That's part of this whole corporate world, too, right? Hooking your drinking buddies up with cushy jobs?

Stop being like me.


Nah. We're complete opposites.