Misleading job adverts grrrrr

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What a pain in the arse it is. I was thinking about looking for a new job for a change of Scenery and came across a job advertised as an IT Officer for the NHS. It said a good general knowledge of IT systems was required so I thought great that sounds like me. Christ was I wrong. When I got the application form the job description wanted me to do everything including being superman. They wanted a web developer, support, admin, helpdesk, telecoms engineer. The point I'm getting at is that companies these days seem to want someone who knows every single software package on earth and knows everything which has electricity running through it...

I'm sick of seeing a job were the description fits me 100% then you get a more detailed description and they just take the piss with what they want...

 

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I know the feeling slypie! The NHS seem to be good at that! 3 years ago I applied for an info pack for an IT Support Technician job...the description did not match the title at all! It was more or less a Data Input position in the IT Dept??

I've noticed that the latest misleading job adverts from businesses seem to be "IT Administrator"...in 99.9999 percent of all adverts this just means "Office Junior"!! So beware!!!!!

 

you will get that through direct posted jobs, as things often go through an IT department and a HR department, thinks can often get a tad messed up

going direct via agencies is somewhat better as they are usually in direct contact with the IT team

alas IT will always cover EVERYTHING, its the nature of the beast
ive been in IT since i was 14, and although I'm currently in a pretty senior position i know i'll still be expected to replace a toner, and answer the help desk phone when everyons out to lunch

as you get more and more junior that becomes even MORE apparant
but the majority of its a good learning curve, and you can blag your way through the stuff thats not really role essential

besides, as someone who has some responsiblity to recruiting folks, I would expect a candidate, junior or not, to know the basics of HTML and SQL in a job that may not even involve it
why? because it shows me the guy/girl generally knows what the hell they are talking about, has a broad skillset and the ability to adapt/learn diseperate subject matter, as well as a genuine interest in IT
lots of folks just cram over some books that cover the 'job description' and find thier way into jobs, this is not a good situation to be in

I know its frustrating guys, i've been there many times, but I assure you, whilst i cant say i appreciate misleading specs, the fact is you will generally be required to be a 'jack of all trades, and still master of a few' whilst working in IT

 

My biggest gripe is the definition of IT jobs. Many of the positions I see advertised as IT are, in fact, office admin or similar, where the IT generally means Excel, Word, and Access, and sometimes Sage.
Rather than SQL, C#/++, or Network/Windows support.

Basically I see the division as Excel and all that as using computers to do your job, and SQL etc where the computers ARE your job.

What was wrong with the word 'Computing'?


I have seen some of those NHS jobs, thankfully I never applied for any!

 

I think this is an important point and is one of the reasons that I try to emmerse myself in many different aspects of IT, such as the ones Phoenix mentioned! (Lynda.com CBTs are great for that jack of trades edge!)

Cheers

Sacha

 

Whilst I agree with the bulk of what your saying Phoenix I don't agree with say someone like me working as an IT Systems Engineer having to know SQL and HTML as this hasn't anything to do with my job. If a company wants someone to know that kind of stuff then they need to hire a web designer/programmer. I actually know how to code HTML and a little on MYSQL as I did it for my degree but I refused at work to look after the website as I'm not a web designer or programmer. I just think that whilst what you say is right people in this industry need a very broad knowledge of IT I personally think companies are starting to ask for a ridiculous amount of skills and knowledge that in the past where classified as very seperate job. It just really annoys me when companies can't seem to be honest for what they are asking for in the advert. It just wastes my time and theirs.

 

sorry, didnt mean you should 'have' to know it, i meant i would hire the guy who did know it over the guy who didnt know it

 

The thing is, no two IT jobs are the same. It all depends on what company you are working for, what they do, their size and what sort of budgets they have. The more strings you have to your bow the better and the more likely you are to do more varied and interesting work, trust me print driver and MS Office problems day in day out aren't all they're cracked up to be.

As for companies asking for all the skillsets under the sun, in reality they aren't likely to get someone who matches all of the skillsets exactly. It's worth applying if you meet a part of the requirements, you never know you may be the closest they get.

Phil

 

I think you might be right Phil, I might still stick an application in depending on what the company I work for offers me in the next week or two with my pay review coming up. I know every place is different and a different set of rules but I do still think companies seem to want too much these days from IT staff. Some of the things they are asking are different jobs entirely it's like asking a policeman to do a fireman's job as well.

 

I think the bottom line here Slypie is that it will do absolutely no harm whatsoever just to fire off an app for the job anyway. At worst, you at least get a knock-back letter - anything else may be a pleasant surprise...

Just my 2p

 

Slypie, are you finding your MCDST qualification any help in your job hunt?

 

I haven't put any apps in of yet so I can't really answer that question. I feel that it will help depending on the job your going for. My certs have improved my knowledge as in being able to resolve problems at work that before I wouldn't of known straight off how to. Plus it looks good on your CV and people have commented on my CV which is always a good sign.

 

most jobs once they been through HR have been completely managled
classic one I saw a couple of years ago asking for 5 years experiance of administrating an XP network!
HR do HR they don't always understand what IT does and IT may not understand how to wite a job description

 

im always amused by the 8 years experiance 25k jobs, im like get the hell outta here lol :P