How do you do classroom jobs?

I have done them several different ways.  I tried changing the jobs every week, but I had trouble remembering to change them and never remembered who was supposed to be doing what job.

I tried having my students keep the same job the whole year.  It worked well for a while, but there were still jobs that didn't get done and students got tired of their jobs.  Then I worried about being "fair" because they didn't get a chance to do the coveted jobs.

This led me to think about "real" jobs.  How do people get jobs?  What happens if you don't like your job or you don't do your job correctly?  Do you change jobs every week?  Also, our first Social Studies unit is about community, rules, rights, and responsibilities.  So, I decided to incorporate classroom jobs into the SS unit.

How do people get jobs?  They fill out an application and do an interview! I came up with a simple job application for my students to fill out. (It's color here, but I printed it in black and white.)

Then, I did "interviews" with them!  I asked each one why they thought they would be good at the jobs they wanted.  (It took about 2 minutes each and they were willing to do it during recess!!) I explained to the class that I would TRY to give each of them one of the jobs they wanted, but I couldn't promise.  I did promise that I would not give them the job they crossed out.  Luckily, it worked out that I was able to give each child one of their three choices.

What happens if you don't like your job?  You quit!  I told them they had to try the job for 2 weeks and if they didn't like it, they could quit and apply for another. (If one isn't available you may have to wait!)

What happens if you don't do your job?  You get fired :-(.  If students don't do their job, or don't do it well, I can take the job away and someone else can apply for it.

I'm hoping this will be a great way to begin teaching the students about responsibility!  I'll let you know how it goes!  What do you think?  How do you run jobs in your classroom?

Update:  I have changed the google doc so that it is no longer private.  You can download it now!