I’ve been seeing a lot of posts from people on Linked In about the state of “hiring” today; specifically, how hard it is to get into an interview, let alone a job.
There have been a lot of “suggested” reasons as to why finding new gigs has become increasingly difficult through the years:
Too many people applying for jobs
ATS—Applicant Tracking Systems removing qualified individuals because of a lack of #keywords in related documents
Companies seeking “perfect” candidates
Shifting priorities
I’m sure the real reason is a perfect storm of all of the above, but I really want to address the third bullet; the “perfect candidate.”
Job Listings
I want you to take a few minutes and search for jobs within your specific job vertical (and maybe not do it while at work…just in case!). Read through some of the qualifications. Do you meet every requirement? Be honest…do you 100% fit every single requirement?
I know I certainly don’t! In fact, I went through this exercise and looked at what I would consider “junior” roles. First, the job postings were so long that I was exasperated after the 7th paragraph. Recruiters want your life’s story in a “short” cover letter, plus relevant stories and reasons why you want the job…but you better keep it to three paragraphs, thank you very much. Oh, don’t forget, no more than two pages on a resume, but some job postings are longer than War & Peace!
Second, even with 20 years of experience, there were some platforms jobs required experience on (that I’m certainly not all that familiar with)…yet many companies wanted people with less than 5 years of experience to be “experts” on.
Perhaps this has more to do with wanting to “pay” junior-level salary but get a senior level resource?
The Google Story
Have you heard this story about a Google hiring committee? This hiring committee was particularly hard on candidates; rarely hired anyone. One day, they were reviewing a new batch of hiring packets and again, passed on every single candidate.
The story goes that the hiring packets they were reviewing? Were their own! They didn’t even hire themselves.
What's Going On?
I’m going to make a bold and dare-I-say controversial statement about the state-of-hiring today. Hiring managers write job descriptions and hire candidates based on “perfection” because they fear their own training capabilities.
If I, the hiring manager, exist in a niche vertical and hire someone with the exact skills and background, then I get to push any future failure on to the candidate.
Hear me out on this: If I hire someone today who doesn’t have all the tools, skills and background to perform a job task…then it’s on me as the hiring manager to train this person to be successful. If they aren’t successful, that reflects on me…the hiring manager.
If, however, they allegedly have all the skills and the right background, and they fail? Well, that’s not MY fault as the hiring manager!
Hiring today is less about the right person and the right fit and more about risk mitigation. It’s why hiring has slowed to a crawl; why job postings stay open for months at a time and interviews go 7,8,9 meetings deep before decisions are made.
We’re no longer hiring the right person and the right fit. We’re playing defense and covering our asses. If this person fails…we can point to their background and their skills and say “it’s all on them.”
You cannot build a culture of trust, innovation and growth with this approach to hiring. So, how do you? Hire critical thinkers, problem solvers and people who have shown grit and perseverance; people that possess high EQ (emotional intelligence) and arm them with solid training.
But stop requiring 20 years of B2C marketing in consumer-packaged goods with a background in every marketing automation platform there is in order to be successful in branding/marketing gum. Because you don’t.
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