Who Writes These Weird Job Descriptions Anyway?

As a job seeker, constantly on the read, I visit several job posting boards regularly.

I am a profound job scanner. Who reads these job descriptions? We, or at least me, are seeking employment, not a tutorial or a history lesson about the founder of a business. When I find an interesting job description title, I scan for the usual buzz words and then scroll down to the so called "qualification" section.

One day I decided to actually read these job descriptions. I was intrigued by how well written some of them are. But, on the other hand, most seem to be seeking what I call the "super candidate". Here are some real examples to mull over:

"Candidates willing to apply must appear for an in-person interview." [Huh]

"Looking for high energy, highly motivated, self-driven individuals who would like to excel with our growing business." [This is a fast food job with metaphors to attract young people, older folks need not apply.]

"Service as a service group balancing competing requests from plant operations..." [Say What?]

"Crew supervisor for growing janitorial company, MBA graduate is a must to apply." [Did you empty the trash can?]

"We are seeking a special type of sales person. This person must be willing to sell our software to growing small businesses in local area." [What does a sales person do anyway?]

"Qualifications: Must work fast and learn quickly. Sitting for long period of time and answer phone queries.

At least 5 to 7 years experience with a BS in business administration." [I wonder if you can drink coffee while sitting?]

I must admit, I have applied for positions that have some questionable qualifications. It seems that you need to have a BS, BA or MBA for some of the most menial jobs. I think that some employers have to post their job, but would rather fill the position within, so they set the bar rather high. It's for sure, that not all employers do this, your task is to weed them out by reading the job descriptions.

Quick tip for job seekers: Always look for a fax number when applying. The reason is that when I was searching for a job I was competing with hundreds of emails. I started to search the web for fax numbers and had a higher interview rate. It's worth a try.