Minimum Hiring Standards Definitions

Combination of Education, Training, and Experience:

In order to maintain a position's exemption status under FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), certain positions will require a degree, licensure or certifications; for these, there will be no substitutions.  For positions where an equivalent may be accepted, the job posting will either state "or an equivalent combination of related job experience, training, and/or education" or will clearly specify the exact position requirements.

For instance, a job posting may contain the statement, “Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education, training and related job experience." It may also be stated as "Associate's degree with three years of directly related experience" OR "High School diploma or GED with six years of directly related experience."

For example:

• 1.5 years of related job experience = 1 year of Full-Time college work.  
• 3 years of related job experience = 2 years of Full-Time college work.
• 4.5 years of related job experience = 3 years of Full-Time college work.
• 6 years of related job experience = 4 years of Full-Time college work.

Work experience obtained through internships, student employment, or self-employment may be considered by the hiring official.

Experience:  for recruitment purposes, experience is defined as full-time work related to the position.  Part-time work is prorated.  For example, a candidate who worked for two years, twenty hours a week would be credited with one year of experience.  Some positions may require experience directly related to the position.

Minimum Qualifications:  the minimum level of knowledge (through education and/or applicable training), skills and abilities related to the position that are required to perform the essential job functions (or primary duties) assigned to a position.

Preferred Qualifications: qualifications (knowledge, skills, and abilities) that are “ideal” or desirable for an applicant to have, but are not necessary to perform the essential job functions (or primary duties) assigned to a position.

Progressively Responsible Experience:  experience obtained through working in similar positions with increasing responsibilities and authority.

Related field:  any field of study or discipline which is similar in nature.  For instance, if a position in Information Technology requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related field.  Related fields would be Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, Management Information Systems, and the like.

Supervisory/Managerial Experience:  any work experience involving responsibility and authority to hire/fire, train and/or evaluate the performance of immediate subordinates.