I am often confused with job postings that require a "detail oriented" person. It seems this term is overused. A new toy for human resources when creating a job posting. Do you really want a "detail oriented" sales person who gets bogged down in the details?
I get a mental image of someone shopping for a door stop.
Customer: "I need a door stop."
Salesman: "What color?"
Customer: "I don't care. Does it really matter? Brown."
Salesman: "How big?"
Customer: "Not sure. Bigger than a railroad spike, smaller than a loaf of bread?"
Salesman: "How heavy?"
Customer: "Well, I don't know. Is this really necessary? Less than 5 pounds?!?"
Salesman: "I just want to make sure you get exactly what you want. What is it made of?"
Customer: "I don't care!! It needs to stop a door from closing."
Salesman: "Well, I can't help you if I don't have all of the details."
There is a place for detail oriented people. But, I don't know why HR believes everyone they hire needs to be "detail oriented". If you're a manager, I would think you want less "detail oriented" and more "broad picture". And I can't think of anything more debilitating than an employee who is obsessed with a detail and can’t step back and see how his piece fits into “the big picture”.
