Jobs require too many different duties

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Have you noticed that job ads list a million different job duties, some of them barely related to the actual job?

You can't just be a file clerk, you also have to provide customer service (including answering phones) and bookkeeping.

If you want to be a programmer, you have to know a zillion different languages. Web programmers have to know HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, SQL, and a million different JS frameworks.

Just reading it all makes me exhausted. I would like to do HTML + CSS only, but no jobs exist for that. I might be willing to learn JS on the job, but every job including entry level positions want you to know everything already. In some industries, there's no such thing as an entry-level job anymore.

My sister is a career advisor. She says to apply as long as you meet 40% of the listed qualifications - including at least two of the first three duties listed (priorities are normally listed first). You may not get the position, but you may get lucky and be one of only a handful of people who applied.
On your resume and during the interview you should sell yourself on those first few priorities listed - to prove you can fulfill the core responsibilities. You can then be trained for the other duties on the job.

That's just how it is these days. They often expect people to have lots of experience too, yet still frown upon the idea of hiring people above 40.

Every job description I put out includes the words, "... and other tasks and duties as deemed necessary by supervisors, managers, and leaders."

Sometimes, I have to ask people to take out their own trash and sweep the floors of their work-spaces (for example).  While these may not be explicitly stated in their job descriptions, they are necessary tasks.

Most of the time, an employee actually has a narrow set of duties, but is expected to be cross-trained in other duties.

Moreover, many of these duties overlap with each other.

The same thing with college course descriptions. They look quite demanding because colleges want to remain accredited. In point of fact, these descriptions are “semantic enhancements” of what actually occurs in the course of actual classes.

Even Kindergarten curricula seem like the children cover complex material.

I’ve had many jobs that required other duties beyond the original job title. In one job, I was a stock clerk, but I also had to help customers a lot, often at night, and in a supermarket. I struggled with the customer service part, which led to a deterioration in the performance of my other duties at that job, and then termination.

It’s very exhausting for anyone on the spectrum to do job duties in addition to those of one’s current job title.

As a mid-level/senior manager, I include "must be able to follow instructions given by supervisor". Part of your job descriptions is to follow directions. I do 20 hours of work that is not in my job description, but when corporate tells me that I have to get up at 6:00 am on Thanksgiving for a presentation (I work for an Australian company), I better have it ready to go. My job is stressful at times, and I was recently forced to let someone go due to budget cuts; it was one of the worst on the job experiences I have had. I have had to fire a few others; Aspergers or not, there's nothing fun about that. None of this was technically in my job description, but if I want to remain employed.....

However, one poster is right; there are some keywords that I look for in regards to qualifications, but if someone could bring 60% of the qualifications to the table, they will be a serious candidate. Yes, strong interpersonal skills will be a requirement.

I work in IT at a school. I just want to fix computers, but I have to...

- Monitor the students in the cafeteria
- Monitor the students crossing the street in the morning and afternoon
- Push the laptop carts around
- Manage the TV Studio
- Manage the stage equipment in the cafeteria
- Manage social media (Facebook, website, Twitter)
- Manage the weather alert system
- Keep track of non IT inventory like TVs, projector screens, janitor equipment, etc, and repairs of these things

I hate these "other duties as assigned" and feel like I shouldn't have to deal with them, but I guess it's good to get that experience, if I could remove any of these from the list it's dealing with students, I'm still not used to it and my adrenaline is always high after leaving the cafeteria, I've been here for 4 years and they still don't listen to me or respect me so I don't see the point of being in there. Apparently if I get promoted to a middle or high school I won't have to do that.

One of the "... other tasks and duties as deemed necessary ..." is to sit in meetings, smile, nod my head, and openly agree with whatever is being said while composing memos about that which I don't agree.

Meetings are stupid.  Just send me an email.