HR personnel and recruiting officers go through literally 100’s of resumes for just one position. Of these resumes there will be many that they just trash as they will not have any qualifications for the position they are offering. When they have a specific job criteria that positively lists qualifications that match their position it makes their job of selecting a candidate much easier and saves time.

Job criteria are when the employer states what they expect from a candidate. It helps them to pre qualify them for a job. A brief overview is given of what the employer will expect from a candidate. The criteria are often stated in the ad that the employer displays for a job and in the job description. It can also be stated when an employer sends out information about a job to a prospective candidate or recruiting agency.

What can you the job candidate expect?

When you look at a description for a job it will state exactly what the employer needs from a candidate. These criteria are based on research into different jobs and their exact requirements.

What questions can you expect?

• Knowledge: educational qualifications are usually stated. You need to assess whether the education you have fits these qualifications.
• Skills: basic and specialized skills will be presented. Again you should go through these carefully and see if you have all or at least most of the skills required.
• How the job will relate to other jobs in the company: this shows you how as an employee you will interact with other workers in the company doing different jobs.

How do you address job criteria?

• Read the job criteria very carefully. Make a note of everything the job requires. This means that you should list all the requirements on a piece of paper or in word notepad.
• List your qualifications and be sure they match up with the need of the job. Take your list of job criteria and go through your list of qualifications and see how many match up. If you have quite a few then use these and do not mention other qualifications that do not pertain to the job.
• Make a selection criteria statement which includes all your qualifications that match the job criteria. Make sure it is concise and does not have any grammar and spelling mistakes.

The advantages of using job criteria:

Employer:

• They will get better qualified candidates. This is because the prospective candidate will know exactly what the employer is looking for.
• Fewer resumes to sift through: the HR does not need to go through so many unqualified resumes. This will save their time.
• Better qualified employees will mean a work force that is more focused and can complete the work better. There are more chances of the employee staying with the company if they are qualified for the job.
• They know what to expect
• They do not have to waste time applying for jobs that do not match their skills or qualifications.
• They can prepare their job statement for the employer based on what the prospective employer needs.

Employees:

• They know what to expect
• They do not have to waste time applying for jobs that do not match their skills or qualifications.
• They can prepare their job statement for the employer based on what the prospective employer needs.

Vlasta Eriksson – Jobs in Cairns, Jobs in PNG, Job in Queensland