A large number of my friends and associates are struggling with their careers as of late.
It varies from toxic work environments and lack of support to unrealistic expectations and below-average pay and benefits.
I don’t know if human resource managers do enough research before posting job descriptions or monitor the reviews their companies are receiving, but there needs to be a wake-up call across the board.
I’m fortunate to work for this newspaper, not only because of who my coworkers are, but also because they strive for constant improvement.
A lot of folks aren’t as lucky and I completely understand where they’re coming from – I’ve had my fair share of terrible jobs.
It’s hard to be a job seeker when businesses have no concept of reality in their posted job descriptions.
I’ve noticed it mostly fluctuates between too many duties without enough compensation and benefits, or a company’s favorite phrase - other duties as assigned – which leads to odd jobs completely deviating from the core role one is expected to fill.
Once an employee is tasked with special side projects that take time away from their core job duties, it starts the clock on just how long that employee can stay afloat.
And once that person starts sinking and becoming overwhelmed, their performance flags and the criticism starts.
From there, the only other option is to stand up for themselves or seek employment elsewhere.
Ever since the City of Bay City posted its “Communications Manager” job, I’ve been asked by several council members and other city employees if I would toss my hat into the ring.
I’m to the point where I’m tired of kindly explaining why I’m not doing that – I’m flat-out calling that job description “coyote ugly,” because nothing else fits it.
Coyote Ugly is slang taken from the 2000 movie of the same name that highlights coyotes being known to gnaw off limbs if they are stuck in a trap, to facilitate escape.
There are over 40 job functions outlined in that posting that outline a workload overlap for several different people – a Public Information Officer, social media manager, event planner, brand manager, marketing manager, public relations specialist, and copywriter.
Each of those individual jobs alone has annual salaries ranging from $60,000-$100,000 or more depending on experience, while the city is offering $56,000-$76,000.
They’re also saying that they’d like this person to be bilingual in English and Spanish, have graphics experience, and be a “certified public communicator.”
Oh - and hidden at the end of the physical demands description - they want this communications manager to be able to read water meters.
Whoever gets hired is supposed to manage all of those duties while basically building the communications department from the ground up and not be in charge or director of the department.
If the current Director of Communications and Cultural Arts is ill-equipped to run said department then perhaps the city should start there rather than overburdening some possible new hire.
Those “essential job functions” are unrealistic for a manager, instead of a director, and the compensation is lacking.
