“Any Other Duties As Required”
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“Any Other Duties As Required”
Should this phrase put you off from applying for that role?
I recently found a job position with “Any other duty as required” at the bottom of the page. The following week, a connection on LinkedIn shared a post advising job seekers to run any time they saw a job description with “any other duty as required” on it.
This generalist idea will make many job seekers miss out on many great opportunities.
Here are my reasons why.
It’s not a red flag
For 99% of jobs, you will perform any other duties as required.
Yep, you heard me right.
Imagine:
Your colleague is moving desks and needs an extra pair of hands
Assisting your team with morning coffee after you announced you were going to get yours
Your coworker or manager needing someone to help proofread a document
Helping your team organise a breakfast meeting with clients and assisting guests with check-in.
I am sure all these aren’t part of your job description. Now imagine if you initially rejected this job because it included any other duties as required.
You will perform “any other duties as required”
In my experience, you would perform other jobs as required 99% of the time. Unless you choose to be a workplace robot.
Flexibility is a 21st-century skill.
You can have your core tasks, but be flexible.
I attended a job interview a few years ago. It was for a casual role for a job I wanted on the side while completing my degree.
While waiting to be let into the interview room, I noticed that one of the stands displaying the company’s work fell to the ground. I looked around to see if any staff had noticed, but no one did. They were so busy with their work and did not notice the nice design frame had fallen off the ground.
I stood up to pick it up and got it back upright. It only took about ten seconds of my time.
Coincidentally at the interview, I was asked a question on flexibility. The panel asked if I would perform “any other task as required”.
I thought it was a perfect moment to share the earlier example.
We weren’t far from the stand that had fallen off, so I pointed out the item that had fallen off and told them:
While waiting to be let in, I noticed that that frame fell right beside me. No one was around me, so I picked it up and restored it upright. It was up again in less than ten seconds like nothing had happened.
Then I turned to the panel and asked whether that was part of my job description, and they said no.
In response, I told them flexibility is a key skill in the workplace, and everyone will, at some point, perform tasks outside of their core tasks. There are no issues if these tasks are minor and do not affect the employee’s core tasks or workloads.
I believe they were impressed, as I got the verbal offer before leaving the premises.
Flexibility is a skill most companies admire.
They want individuals who are dynamic and can work well within teams. You must be flexible and help others in your team.
I can’t imagine you will spend tons of your time performing other tasks not in your job description, so there’s nothing to worry about here.
Wrapping Up
Flexibility is a skill we all need to advance our careers.
Depending on where you work and how your team is structured, you will perform tasks or roles that are not in your job description. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. Your goal is to keep adding value to your team and being helpful to others.
Remember, any other duty as required isn’t such a big deal that it should trouble you from applying for the role you want.
I wish you the best.
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