At the TSALD/TASPA Conference in December, attorney Wayne Haglund told an interesting story of how an addition to a job vacancy notice helped a community college fend off a claim of discrimination.  Looking for a new teacher, the college may have been surprised to get an application from a man with a Ph.D. from a prestigious university and a resume that included multiple publications in peer reviewed journals.  Pretty impressive that a guy like that would apply for a teaching position at a community college.

But they didn’t hire him.  Instead, they hired a younger woman with a Master’s degree.

The man filed a discrimination complaint.  According to Wayne, the job vacancy posting was critical to the defense of the college. The posting included a statement that experience teaching at the community college level would be preferred.

Bingo.  The younger woman had that experience. The older man with the impressive academic credentials did not. Was he more qualified?  Certainly he was more qualified for many higher education jobs—but not for this one.

So when you post that job vacancy notice, think about what is really important in a candidate, and be sure to include it.

DAWG BONES: THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU POST THAT JOB VACANCY NOTICE