Having been in the position to hire people many times for varying levels of work (all the way from sales associates in a retail store in the mall to software architects and technical product managers) I can offer two pieces of information:

1.) Advertising a job opening is just that: advertising. There are plenty of other employers that can offer similar jobs for similar wages. They're selling themselves as a potential employer just as much as you need to sell yourself as a potential employee. They have to try to differentiate themselves from other job listings if they want to attract the more desirable applicants. If their only description of the job was, "you'll make burritos, clean tables, and empty the trash" they'd lose a lot of the better applicants to employers making their job openings sound cooler.

2.) It's not always complete B.S. The attitude of management as far as the work environment they create and the opportunities for advancement they make available can differ enormously from employer to employer. The fact that you might start out emptying trash bins doesn't mean you won't end up doing something cooler there later. They just can't make those types of promises in a job listing because they don't know what kind of employee you're going to be. All they can do is drop hints and hope that some of their people aspire to stand out and pursue better positions in the organization. For example, it would be a terrible idea to hire a manager without knowing if they can even handle the kind of work the people they'd be managing are doing, so they advertise, "hey, you could be a manager," but what they're really saying is, "hey, if you can do the crap work and demonstrate intelligence, initiative, and pride in your work we might make you a manager later."

Of course, there are plenty of employers that imply that to motivate people and have no intention of having that person ever do more than bus tables and empty the trash. Just saying' that's not always the case.

Been looking for a job for close to 7 years now, and i've got nothin. Other than that, I do have to agree that these job "opportunities" are rather annoying as of late. Personally, I hate these dang stores that make you go to the kiosks to apply for jobs.

I'd have to go with the "it's not really political correctness" so much as "trying to make poop smell like roses." Hyberbole or dressing up with words to "sell it" is nothing new. If they discover/believe using certain terms over others = more people seem to buy into something - or in this case, applicants or maybe attract a higher level of worker - they do it.

Used car = "previously owned"

Curtains = "window treatments"

And so on.

In other words: marketing.

Yup. Though mythbusters proved you can polish a turd, you still have a turd.

I'm usually totally fine with job listings being written that way, but I always find it funny when employees buy into the naming conventions. You're not a 'Sales Specialist' or a 'Sales Expert;' you're a salesperson.

The part they don't realize is that the higher level workers smell the [censored] aisle away

Exactly. Kinda weird. People take jobs too seriously.

Yes, but I'm still applying to Chipotle....

Sure, but they also understand why the jobs are being listed that way, right, so what's the difference? Won't those smart, "higher-level" workers understand that if you want to draw attention to something you have to make it sound good? The employers realize that someone they hire to make sandwiches doesn't really think they're a "Hoagie Technology Engineering Specialist." It's just a more fun name than "sandwich assembler." They're communicating something about the culture of the work environment they're trying to create that they think will be attractive. Nothing wrong with that. It's not a filthy, misleading lie or some kind of conspiracy.

Subway hires 'Sandwich Artists'. Which is pretty awesome.

But it's shiny, and shiny sells

I think I shall henceforth call my long years of forum posting activity by the title "International Debate and Elaborate Keyboard Pontification Media Communications Expert."

Well, i use it in my job applications as daily excersice in using the english language

I like to consider myself a Typologist of Redundantly Organized Literary Logrolling.

...and it puts a good face on their employees for potential customers, which while a bit silly, probably isn't hurting business.

You should put that on your resume.

I'll just regurgitate it back at them in the next few interviews I get.

"What responsibilities did you have as a Wal-Mart employee?"

"Well, when I was an associate, my main responsibility was to proactively assist the team in achieving cohesive goals. I also gained experience in helping to construct and maintain a positive aura on the sales floor, provide team friends or clients with assistance if they required it, and to piss excellence (but only when on break)."

What color was the excellence, and was it regular excellence or burning excellence?

Screw that, you should go for politics. A whole paragraph of text that doesn't say saying anything

Personally, I would be more attracted to jobs if they were honest.

Here's the work you will do, all we want is someone who can do the work and do it well. I just wish employers would cut the crap and be honest about what they are looking for. The way they word listings is a little intimidating for me because they are never straightforward about what the hell they are looking for.

Take it from some one who has worn the "Team Member" hat under several employees. Team Member is a title that is extremely vague. It basically gives them to power to make you do anything they want/need you to do.