Qualifications

All qualification statements must be specific, realistic, and defensible - clear, and demonstrably necessary to successful performance of the job.

From a practical standpoint, if job qualifications are unnecessarily high, they screen out people who are qualified to perform the work. This may make recruiting efforts more difficult and have the effect of driving up pay rates unnecessarily. Inflated requirements may also screen out a disproportionate number of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities, thus exposing UMass Chan to legal risks. Think carefully to be sure your minimum qualifications can be uniformly applied to all applicants.

Qualifications Matrix

You can use the following matrix to prepare the qualifications for the position description.

• Required Qualifications

Required Qualifications are the list of education and years of experience required to successfully accomplish the functions of the position.  Under this section, you should list only the “minimum” education and years of experience required to perform the job responsibilities.

• Preferred Qualifications

Unlike Required Qualifications, Preferred Qualifications are the list of education and years of experience that you “would like to have” for someone performing the job.  When you think about Preferred Qualifications, you think about what the “ideal” candidate would have for education and experience, not necessarily the minimum need to perform the job responsibilities.