Tyree Bruce
PSY435
January 30, 2012
Instructor: Krista Bridgmon Ph.D.
Job Analysis Paper
Job analyses are a way to create detailed job descriptions used by businesses to promote efficiency and best match potential between the employer and employee; but there are many other reasons to complete a job analysis. According to Ash and Levine (1980) there are 11 common uses for job analysis: career development; performance appraisal; legal issues; recruitment and selection of employees; training; setting salaries; efficiency/safety; job classification; job description; job design; and planning (Spector, 2008) There are many ways to complete a job analysis and the method used usually depends on the type of job or business. The four most common job analysis types are the; job component inventory; functional job analysis; position analysis questionnaire; and task inventory (Spector, 2008). For this paper this writer has chosen to use the functional job analysis method, utilizing the O*NET electronic database which was previously found in the Dictionary or Occupational Titles (DOT) and is produced by the United States Department of Labor (Spector, 2008). The occupation chosen is Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor. This paper will also look at the reliability and validity of the Functional Job Analysis as well as some of the pros and cons surrounding the four common methods mentioned above.
Functional Job Analysis-Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor
The functional job analysis is a comprehensive method that makes use of observation, interviews, and scores on several dimensions; these dimensions are relevant to all jobs making this a uniform method to obtain information no matter what the job may be (Spector, 2008). The functional job analysis of a substance abuse specialist is as follows. (Note: due to the extensive amount of information provided much information will be paraphrased and writer will not include