COMPUTER ASSISTED JOB EVALUATION

CAJE
Now Called Mission Classification
Or M Class

The Computer Assisted Job Evaluation (CAJE) is an electronic position classification

system developed to classify Locally Engaged Staff (LES) for Agencies of US Missions
abroad. It is used to classify Foreign Service National (FSN) Direct Hire (DH) personnel
and other types of service providers, who are considered employees at post, such as
Personal Services Agreements (PSA). The employment of these two types of staff is
indefinite.
The Peace Corps (PC) has authority to hire FSNs and can procure the services of
Personal Services Contractors (PSC). These contracts are issued for a maximum of five
years. Therefore, CAJE is only used to classify PC FSNs
As part of the hiring process, a position description is written for a fully-qualified
candidate. Usually, a second position description is written for a candidate that can be
started in a training status, for a specific period of time that will allow the candidate the
experience and knowledge of the employing agency and its systems. In the future, most
of these position descriptions will be written directly into the M Class System. CAJE/M
Class gauges all elements in an FSN position to arrive at the proper classification.
Classification of FSNs is not broad-banded and positions need to be classified
individually at the grade where they correspond. In cases where not all position
elements in the profile are met by the chosen incumbent, and when this possibility was
considered at the onset of the hiring process, this incumbent will be placed at the
training grade to be evaluated at the end of training period, to see if he/she now meets
all the requirements of the position elements at the specified levels.
Job Holders and their Supervisors complete a Job Discussion Help Sheet (JDHS) that
describes all elements of their position, to prepare them for a job discussion with the job
evaluator, who is usually a member of the Human Resources Office of a US Embassy.
This JDHS usually takes the place of a physical desk audit. The following elements
required by the position are reviewed in the job discussion. They are then entered into
the CAJE/M Class system to obtain the CAJE/M Class Job Report Review Form.
The CAJE/M Class system measures the following elements:
Responsibility
Knowledge
Intellectual Skills
Communication
Working Environment

Responsibility:
Dimension Description: Consideration is given to the extent to which the job holder is
required to plan, organize, direct and control resources in order to achieve specified
objectives. Consideration is also given to both the scale of the resources and the level of
authority to manage them. The freedom with which the job holder can act and the areas
of discretion he/she possesses are considered. Identification of the nature and level of
any advice given and the overall impact of the job holder on the organization and its
external contacts is also considered. It includes:
A. Staff/Contractor Management.
The position is responsible for the control of people, through line management or
obtaining results through contractors
B. Equipment:
Personal/Shared use or the control of use of equipment by others. These can be:
the control of serviceability, the level of operating efficiency, or main purchase
recommendations.
C. Expendable Supplies
The position is responsible for own issues/receipts, or is responsible for
procurement management
D. Buildings/Land
The position is responsible for:
Facilities Maintenance/Management There are six types/manners of performing
this function that range from straightforward repair to the overall fabric of a
significant building or group of buildings..
Buy/Lease/Sell Decision that ranges from involvement in the identification and
surveying of potential property to providing critical input on decisions relating to
the purchase/leasing/sale of properties.
E. Finance
The position has the following responsibility relating to
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Financial Management and Handling Cash, which is the
issue/receipt/safekeeping of cash, either personally or through others.
This option may include official credit card usage
The position has the following responsibility relating to NONOPERATING EXPENDITURES:
Budget Management: (Small Project Assistant Funds, PCPP, In-Kind
HCC)

F. Information
Definitions:
Information resource Includes but is not limited to, the
following: a library of documents, a collection of
publications and other media (CD Rom, periodicals, audio
tapes, video tapes, DVDS); files and databases (such as for
correspondence, subject matter material, commercial, contract
or security data, medical records, financial records, activity
reports, etc.)
Controllable Information Where there are defined
procedures for inventory or control of the information
item/asset, because the information item has a high street
value, or its loss could compromise safety and/or security.
The job holder is accountable for the item/asset.
Examples: blank passports, visa counterfoils, PKI cards,
building access cards, passwords, PC smart cards, etc.
Upkeep of Resource, Access/Security, and Management of Information Resource
and Controllable Items/Assets Resource. Here the resource is categorized as
Moderate, Standard or Advanced.
G. Contracted Out Goods And/Or Services
Contracted out means the same as outsourced and includes no-cost or user-fee
based contracts. It considers the position as the Contract End-User or as the
Contract Support/ Purchasing or Procurement Operations. It gauges the amount
of money spent on these contracts (i.e. guard services, janitors, gardeners, etc.).
H.

Freedom to Act
The job holder has the freedom to act/make decisions in adjusting the order in
which daily work is performed, planning and organizing work over a period of
days, amending existing practices, planning the work of others, liaising with
external organizations, resolving problems/situations encountered with or without
assistance, resolving harder problems/situations referred by other staff, controlling
minor projects, or determining significant changes to operations. One of the
previous examples of incumbents freedom to act is to be chosen.
I. Advice/Recommendations.
Advice/recommendations can be provided on procedural, security, technical,
human resources/personnel, financial, legal, organization policy/strategy,
government/international bodies policy/strategy issues. Each one is graded
according to whether they are Basic, Standard, Advanced, or a Highly specialized
procedural advice from expert within the organization, or the Ultimate authority
on the subject.
J. Impact.

The level of impact the position has on the internal organization or within the
internal organization, where the job has a major level of impact on its own
function, or the job has a major relational impact with particular groups external
to the organization.

Knowledge.
This is sum total of education, training, skill and experience required to carry out the job
to the normally expected standard of performance.
A. Knowledge Areas (as required by the positions). Grades can be: Basic, Standard,
Advanced, Expert
The Organization, which includes the internal workings and structure of the
organization, the operational environment, and a specialist knowledge.
B. Education
The minimum level of education essential before being considered for the
position should be established.
C. Occupational Training and Membership.
Occupation specific training and/or membership of a professional body that is
essential before being considered for the position, excluding academic education.
This includes PC OST or other specialized training such as IT, safe driving, or
agency specific requirement. It also includes membership to professional
organizations that authorize specific types o work, e.g. Medical board
certifications, Accountants certificates or registrations, or bar examinations.
Grades can be Basic, Standard, Advanced or Expert.
D. Experience.
Prior experience that is essential for the job. This means working in one or
several jobs within a category for a minimum cumulative time in that category. If
the minimum experience is on the boundary of 2 options, choose the higher.
Within this experience, there is the Specialist Field, which requires a high level of
specialist knowledge that isnt covered in other categories, but that was gained in
high-level roles of the category required for the job. Supervisory experience
should also be noted, when the job holder requires experience in the effective
organization and coordination of a range of activities undertaken by others. This
will involve directing actions of subordinates or non-subordinates, or a
combination of both. Experience is measured by the number of years required for
each one of the previous categories, as a minimum.
E. Language Skills. The position requires one or more language (most widely
spoken language in the country, and English, where it is not the most widely
spoken) with the following skills: Level 1: Rudimentary knowledge. Level 2:
Limited knowledge. Level 3: Good working knowledge. Level 4, Fluent, high

degree of proficiency in the written and spoken language. Level 5: Professional

translator/interpreter.
F. Other Skills.
Keyboard/Data Entry (graded Basic, Standard and Advanced)
Numerical (graded Basic, Standard and Advanced, ranging from basic arithmetic
to the most sophisticated mathematical techniques).
Driving (graded Basic, Standard and Advanced, ranging from holding a valid
drivers license for a car or a motorcycle to highly-skilled defensive driving
techniques).
IT Software (graded Basic, Standard and Advanced, ranging from the use of a
spreadsheet to the design and/or development of sophisticated applications.

Intellectual Skills.
The extent to which the job demands analytical thinking in order to understand and
absorb variable and/or complex information. Consideration is also given to the structure
of the role, the level of problem solving, the need to look ahead and the level of creativity
and innovation required.
A. Information Environment. The job holder must understand one of five levels of
information, that range from simple information to information that is highly
complex within a specialist discipline.
B. Role Complexity. The problems which the job holder encounters and diagnoses
deal with the role framework, the problems solved, and the work pattern. Each
one of these can be graded within five types of complexity.
C. Planning. Consider how far in advance the job holder must actively plan their
own activities and/or the activities of subordinates. Active planning involves
anticipating future events/requirements. Deciding what needs to be done, the
people and other resources required, and the timing of the activities. Participation
or contribution to a planning activity would not be measured here.
D. Innovation. Consider the opportunity and/or requirement to develop new
approaches, new procedures or ways of delivering a service, to adapt existing
procedures or methods to meet new work demands, to design new plans for
facilities, equipment, or systems, to design and/or draft publications, media or
other information material, to develop materials for training or orientation.

Communication
The objective of this factor is to assess the varying levels of communication skills
required to perform the job effectively and efficiently. It includes the requirement to deal
fairly, sensibly and tactfully with colleagues and external relationships in a variety of

routine and special situations. It also takes account of the frequency of contacts, their
nature and purpose, the significance and complexity of the subject matter and the level of
understanding of the recipients.
A. Contacts. Contacts can be internal or external, at the low, mid or high levels, at
the Basic, Standard or Complex Levels.
B. Oral. Oral communication can be a routine transmission of information, tact and
diplomacy, complex explanations, influencing/persuading, care and compassion,
formal negotiating, conflict resolution, or leadership. These can be led at a Basic,
Developed or Highly Developed Style.

C. Written. Written communication can be Basic, Routine or Complex, carried out

in a Basic, Developed or Highly Developed style.

Working Environment.
The extent to which working situations and conditions are physically demanding and/or
environmentally disagreeable and/or socially disruptive.
A. Working Conditions. Whether exposure to this type of environment would be
Occasional, Regular or Main Place of Work.
B. Hazards. The position is exposed to potential hazards, at a level and frequency of
exposure that can be Occasional, Regular or Frequent at a Basic, Moderate or
Significant levels.
C. Physical or Psychological Demands. The position requires occasional, regular or
frequent physical demands, at a Basic, Moderate, or High Level.
D. Unusual Work Pattern Demands. The level at which the work pattern is subject to
disruption due to the nature of the job.

Once all answers are entered into the system, a numerical value is placed on them. A
maximum of 10 points is given to each of the five categories. Grades are assigned
according to the addition of these points.