A position is not just a staff unit, but the main characteristic of an employee's duties

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

By definition, a position is a kind of characteristic of an employee that determines his functional duties and areas of responsibility. If we consider the staffing as a whole, then this concept has a broader meaning.

How is the position different from the profession

Getting an education, a student, as a rule, intends to work in his speci alty in the future. However, often the situation on the labor market changes over 5 years of study. So many former students go to work not exactly in the positions they expected to occupy in their first year. But even in the case when a young specialist finds exactly the place in life that he has been striving for for 5 years, his position will not always correspond to the profession.

For example, studying at an institute or other institution at the Faculty of Law and having received a diploma in civil law, a graduate is unlikely to find an enterprise with a similar position instaff schedule. Most likely, he will be appointed as a legal adviser (possibly junior, due to lack of experience). The situation is similar in other areas.

And this happens due to the lack of synchronization between the list of possible professions that can be indicated in the diploma, and the positions entered in the staff list and indicated in the work book. In fact, this difference is not so fundamental. After all, if you follow the logic, both a civil law specialist and a legal adviser are one and the same. In simple terms, a profession is what a person has learned, and a position is what he actually does. The first fits into the diploma, the second - into the work book.

Inconsistency of the position with the functions performed

Unfortunately, situations are not so rare when the staffing of an enterprise or organization does not allow the introduction of another unit, but there is an actual need for it. In this case, you can act by seeking its introduction or by accepting an employee for another position. For example, in the regional representative office of a large company there is only one unit of the secretary (for the head). His deputy also needs a referent, and one employee cannot cope with all the duties. The head office categorically refuses to introduce an additional assistant position, citing savings in wages.

Then the deputy (with the consent of the manager) accepts an employee for a position, for example, an IT specialist, but on condition that hewill act as secretary. It would seem that there is no difference, because the position is not the main thing. An employee is much more important than the level of payment, work schedule and functions. But, after working in this mode for some time, the referent may want to change jobs. In this situation, it will be quite problematic for him to prove experience in the field of office work. After all, the fact that he worked as a secretary is known only to him and his direct management. In the work book, his position is an IT specialist. And a good referent in a new position can simply be refused (after all, his management is not interested in losing an employee).

Some tips for job seekers

When getting a new job or moving within the same organization, you need to be interested not only in the level of payment, working hours and working conditions (which is undoubtedly important). It does not hurt to clarify exactly what the new position is called and how it will be recorded in the work book in the future.