Rensselaer classifies all staff positions by job family, which is a group of jobs involving similar types of work and requiring similar training, skills, knowledge, and expertise. Positions in a job family can range from entry to senior level, and require different levels of skill and responsibility. Each job family has a distinct career ladder.
Job families are used to ensure consistency in position classification and evaluation by comparing similar jobs within the same job family, and also to define career development opportunities. Job families can also help facilitate career planning discussions, and assist in ensuring employees’ internal equity and external competitiveness.
A career ladder is a series of defined levels within a job family where the nature of work is similar, and the various levels represent requirements for increased skill, knowledge and responsibility as an employee moves through a career.
Although career ladders are not intended to serve as comprehensive job descriptions, they do provide standard criteria and a consistent framework to guide staff and managers regarding the career levels within job families. In addition, career ladders assist in the correct assignment of staff to the appropriate job family and level based on the position requirements and responsibilities, and also serve as a basis for career counseling.
Rensselaer has established career ladders for the following job families:
- Administrative and Operations
- Athletics
- Health Services
- Information Technology
- Instructional and Research Support
- Librarian
- Management
- Professional
- Public Safety
- Scientific and Research
- Service and Maintenance
Evaluating Jobs
Rensselaer’s Division of Human Resources Compensation Unit is responsible for evaluating and classifying all staff positions. These responsibilities include:
- Determining the job family and career ladder level of each position based on knowledge, skills, required education and experience, and job responsibilities
- Comparing the complexity and scope of positions relative to other comparable positions
- Benchmarking positions to the external labor market
- Determining the appropriate salary range and pay level of each position
- Determining the appropriate classification as exempt or non-exempt under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
