75-100%
A terrific student of mine who has just gone on the market has called me to ask if all HR departments are the same, and if they include information like the "required abilities" list below from a school to which he/she has applied:
- Visual Abilities: Read reports, create presentations and use a computer system – 75-100% of the time
- Hearing: Hear well enough to communicate with co-workers, vendors and students – 75-100% of the time.
- Dexterity, Grasping, Feeling: Write, type and use the telephone, copier, and computer systems – 75-100% of the time
- Mobility: Open files and operate office machines; move between departments and attend meetings across campus – 75-100% of the time
- Talking: Frequently convey detailed or important instructions and ideas accurately, loudly, or quickly – 75-100% of the time
- Lifting, Pulling, Pushing: Exert up to 30 pounds for force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects – 50-74% of the time.
- Cognitive/Emotional: Ability to critically think and concentrate. Must be able to respond quickly to changes in conditions – 75-100% of the time
This graphic is killing me :)
ReplyDeleteSome of these, like the lifting, have been around for a while.
ReplyDeleteMy best understanding is that they're attempts to describe truly necessary abilities, so as to determine what accommodations would be reasonable for a disabled employee, vs. what disabilities are truly disqualifying (e.g. at least for the moment, one still does need eyesight correctable to a certain level to drive a vehicle in a professional capacity, and probably to be a graphic designer, but not to do a whole slew of other jobs involving communication via words, since those can be both created and consumed in a variety of ways that don't require eyesight, thanks to readily available technology).
It's interesting that cognitive/emotional abilities are now being listed as well, though probably not surprising given the rise in diagnoses like anxiety (at least if the accommodation sheets I receive are any measure. Of course, ours don't include diagnoses, but some students self-reveal, and one gets to know which accommodations go with which diagnoses).
And I think the tricky part of a list like the one above is precisely that, for many jobs, one of these abilities can substitute for another, given the proliferation of input methods, controllers for tech tools, etc., etc.
DeleteI am pleased that they mention Force in units of pounds. Technically, pounds is not a unit of mass. Somebody who has taken a physics class must have proof read these requirements. Good for them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a long time since I took a physics class, but aren't Newtons the units of Force? And isn't mass measured in pounds (or grams where I am, we use the metric system)?
DeleteI know that mass and weight are often mixed up but weight is more accurately defined as the force exerted on a body by gravity. Weight = mass x acceleration due to gravity.
Newtons are the metric unit of force but pounds are also a unit of force. Grams are the metric unit of mass. You are correct that weight measured in pounds or Newtons) is simply the force exerted by mass under the influence of gravity.
DeleteSo what's the imperial unit for mass?
DeleteSlugs.
DeleteThe lifting pulling is my favorite. If you can exert ten pounds of force just 50% of the time, you're in!
ReplyDeleteSome of these might be useful for the White House.
ReplyDeleteAlthough to be fair, "grasping" and "talking loudly" does seem to be well covered.
If you can exert the necessary amount of force 75% of the time, will you be overqualified for this position?
ReplyDelete