The Vacancy Notice/Job Description

When a vacancy has been approved for filling, the advertisement announcing the position becomes the committee's touchstone for all succeeding acts of recruitment, interview, and selection. The advertisement describing the position (position description), which is prepared by the department, initiates the recruitment process. It should outline the position to be filled, including primary and secondary duties, and should list the qualifications that candidates must possess. A specific and concrete position description is beneficial in several ways: it forces the department to focus on exactly what it desires in a candidate and to articulate those expectations; it provides guidelines by which candidates will be evaluated; and it encourages self-selection among potential candidates by permitting them to screen themselves from consideration. A well-conceived and well-written position description will assist the search committee at the interview stage by providing the criteria on which interview questions are based. The committee/department should provide qualification standards that are measurable, quantifiable, reliable and valid.

Position descriptions include the following:

name or title of the position

specific duties for which the person will be responsible

educational requirements and experience desired

credentials

area(s) of specialization

deadline for receipt of application (if applicable)

request for curriculum vita

request for references

name, address, and telephone number of the contact person at the University.

University of South Carolina Aiken
Copyright 2001 by the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina
Comments to webmaster@aiken.sc.edu   04.12.01
URL: http://www.usca.sc.edu/hr