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Reply to: RE>Job hunting
>> IBM calls it a Box Job; that is, a person in the company needs a new
>> position and a description is made around that person. After a wide job
>> search, only one candidate is found to match the description--the >>
original employee.
Writing tailored job descriptions is one way companies get around certain
hiring rules. One of the unfortunate side-effects is that it wastes
job-hunters' time.
Another not un-heard of reason for this is to get around the rules about
hiring a foreigner for a position in the states. To get around the
restrictions, some companies very carefully craft their job descriptions so
that they specifically describe the experience/skills of the foreigner they
want to hire. Why? They'll often work for considerably less than their
American counterparts so they can live in this country.
Unfortunately, for technical fields, this isn't terribly difficult to do. In
some cases it's probably even legitimate, so it's difficult to prevent.