This One Thing that Should be Removed from Job Descriptions

How many of you have read an extremely boring job description? The ones that make your eyes water after a few lines.

The fact is, the majority of job descriptions range from mediocre to extremely bad.

They can either be way too vague or way too descriptive. The worst is when it’s overly lengthy and still vague (how is that possible right?)

My greatest pet peeve these days is something that has become completely normalized and it probably comes up every 2 or 3 applications I see. You might even associate yourself with this trait (I wouldn’t be surprised because I used to put this under the skill set section in my resume).

“Must have the ability to manage multiple projects.”

This one right here I think should be removed altogether.

Here’s why.

They’re asking you to do more than what’s required from that start

You’re hired to perform certain responsibilities. Those responsibilities might involve a variety of different tasks which is normal. But the wording of “handling multiple projects” can imply that you must be flexible enough to not only handle one large project but many of them simultaneously.

In this last post, I commented on why diversifying your energy for a prolonged period of time can be harmful.

The issue here is that you don’t feel entitled to say no. Especially given the anxiety many post-grads experience entering the workforce (ie. pay off their debts, pay rent..ect), it makes sense that they’re extra eager to impress their employers.

Setting boundaries become extremely difficult when you put so much dependence on a job or career.

However, by agreeing to this, you’re basically giving your employee free reign over your schedule. This just sounds like overtime to me.

Once you agree once, your employer will assume you’re “that person” and may start piling more responsibilities on you.

Now you may think— well this is great for my career advancement!

This certainly might be the case, but let’s consider how broken that system is.

We’re expected to constantly straddle our energy and break our backs to meet the demands of our bosses, in order to ‘rise’ to the next rung of the ladder. By doing so, we neglect our main responsibilities and have to bear the consequences (and often guilt) of this.

Eroding our confidence in ourselves

It gets to a point where your schedule is filled to the brim with different projects, social media, training, and interviewing (whatever it is), and you no longer really have time to think about what you’re doing. You’re on autopilot; zooming through the weeks either like a zombie or a chicken without its head on. Your friends start noticing your lackluster demeanor.

Your energy goes down the drain and you might even start to feel depressed. You feel like your work is absolute crap, even when you’re seemingly producing “so much” output.

The reason why is a. You’re too exhausted to reflect on your accomplishments and b. You’re probably not giving your full energy to each project or task because your energy is way too diversified.

You either start to underperform or start to hate your job. Neither is good.

The Common Trap: Toleration

Now you might be thinking to yourself- if I just get through this rough period, things are going to be so much better for me.

The problem is this. Every decision or action you take, especially practiced on a consistent basis feeds into your character or the way you essentially interact with the world. You start to associate your capabilities with “being a great multitasker or project manager,” rather than with a standard of excellence.

This isn’t a one-time deal. As you progress in your career, you will follow the same pattern that you’ve become accustomed to. That is, constantly saying yes, and setting yourself up for burnout.

Unfortunately, this type of mentality has become normalized in society. We have to go above and beyond which equates to relinquishing our main priorities to take on less relevant tasks or projects.

We start to connotate toleration as strength. “You’ll get through this,” you tell yourself.

But at what cost?

In my opinion, no job or salary is worth the cost of your mental health. It might feel scary to refuse to take something on, but saying no might just become your greatest weapon.

We have to say no to many things so that we can say yes to the truly more important things in our lives.

Living a life that just feels like you’re getting by is not sustainable. More so, you start to develop resentment for your workplace, and even for yourself for not being able to handle it all. You start comparing yourself to others who seemingly have ten things going on at once. You think to yourself, “why can’t I do that too?”

What you don’t see is that those people struggle to keep up too. They miss deadlines and details that erode their own sense of integrity and professionalism.

Next time you see a job description that requires you to “handle multiple projects,” make it clear in your cover letter that you’d rather put 100% into the thing you were hired for, or perhaps just move on to the next.