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Career expert offers tips for spotting the warning signs in job listings

Oct 5, 2023

2 min

Jill Panté


Great salary? Check. Amazing benefits? Check. So what's the catch? It's right there in the job listing – you're just missing it.


Jill Gugino Panté, director of the Lerner Career Services Center at the University of Delaware, has helped more than a few job seekers navigate the rough waters of career sites.


She lists three of the most common warning signs to look for in a listings:


  • Vagueness. A good job description should outline specific responsibilities, projects and programs you’ll be working on, teams you’ll be interacting with, etc. I’ve seen job descriptions that have simple bullet points with few words or generic phrases like “customer service” but don’t outline what the actual duties include. This could signal that the role is unstructured and/or the company is unfocused.


  • Too many roles. Watch out for a listing if it looks like there's multiple jobs rolled into one. For example, IT/Admin/Client Relationship Manager. These should be three separate jobs and not under one job. That could mean that the job is not clearly defined or they are so short staffed, they don’t have enough people to do the work needed which could signal a super stressful job.


  • Too many questions. Overall, after reading a job description, if you have too many questions or don’t have a general understanding of the skills required, it might be best to move on.


To set up an interview with Panté, simply click on her profile and click the contact button. You will reach her and a member of the UD media relations team who can get you connected quickly.

Connect with:
Jill Panté

Jill Panté

Director, Lerner College Career Services Center

Prof. Panté can comment on workplace issues such as hiring, professional etiquette, personal branding, interviewing, and job search.

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