Comments on: More Lessons for the Job Seeker http://inluminent.com/2004/04/08/more-lessons-for-the-job-seeker/ my comments on business, marketing, advertising, email, CAN-SPAM, selling as a profession, photography, computers and other stuff... Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:44:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: hey http://inluminent.com/2004/04/08/more-lessons-for-the-job-seeker/comment-page-1/#comment-1622 hey Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://inluminent.com/?p=896#comment-1622 you will never get 100% of desired quals from an ad. ok, unless they're really basic (like breathing) job seekers try to figure out if they seem to fit what the job really needs. you say you want C++ programmers who've got experience with dreamweaver, while I have C and Java experience and have worked with Visual studio, and several other web design programs... probably a decent match for what you really need, even though its not an exact match ads are imperfect beasts where you can't say exactly what you want and where people have to match up to what they think you really want. how often do you know "exactly" what you want when you're searching using google? most of the best candidates i've ever hired have not strictly met the job requirements listed in the ad, but have had appropriate experience in a different field or application and transitioned. the ideal CEO of a firm is the former CEO of GE... but they're is only 1 of those around, and he hazs zipper control issues.... so you have to take a few discrepancies you will never get 100% of desired quals from an ad. ok, unless they’re really basic (like breathing)

job seekers try to figure out if they seem to fit what the job really needs. you say you want C++ programmers who’ve got experience with dreamweaver, while I have C and Java experience and have worked with Visual studio, and several other web design programs… probably a decent match for what you really need, even though its not an exact match

ads are imperfect beasts where you can’t say exactly what you want and where people have to match up to what they think you really want.

how often do you know “exactly” what you want when you’re searching using google?

most of the best candidates i’ve ever hired have not strictly met the job requirements listed in the ad, but have had appropriate experience in a different field or application and transitioned.

the ideal CEO of a firm is the former CEO of GE… but they’re is only 1 of those around, and he hazs zipper control issues…. so you have to take a few discrepancies

]]> By: Glenn Mandelkern http://inluminent.com/2004/04/08/more-lessons-for-the-job-seeker/comment-page-1/#comment-1623 Glenn Mandelkern Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://inluminent.com/?p=896#comment-1623 The second paragraph is among the most telling I've read when it comes to hiring nowadays. It's among the most honest I've read, that sometimes we hiring managers need to look inward. Besides, sometimes we're candidates too! The main force behind hiring isn't to bring out the best in people. Instead, what really is driving hiring is the fear of making a hiring mistake. There used to be a time when at most 2 interviews were conducted. Offers on the spot were common. Additionally, the hiring manager was more than willing to stand behind their decision, and take the consequences good or bad. Now, like so many other decisions, they're buried in a committee so that nobody has to take personal responsibility. When it comes to listing so many "must have"'s and absolute requirements, the unspoken guard is if the applicant doesn't work out, the hiring manager can say, "Well, at least they had cherished Hot-Tech-of-the-Day" experience. What is even more contradictory in 2004 is to see that alongside demands of experience, employers also say that candidates must be into "lifelong learning." Yet to express to an employer that one is committed to learning in an era where almost anything we want to know about is at our fingertips is grounds for immediate rejection. Hiring managers need to rethink this because just as they continue proliferating the fear of making a hiring mistake, one day they'll find themselves downsized through no fault of their own and nobody will want to take a chance on them. For more advice, I'd strongly recommend Robert F. Wilson's book _Conducting Better Job Interviews._ Just as vital as it is to avoid letting the wrong candidate in, it is just as important (if not moreso) to not let the right candidate slip through the cracks of an imperfect hiring system. That's especially true in a world where requirements are changing constantly, and yesterday's prized knowledge is hereby obsolete. Glenn The second paragraph is among the most telling I’ve read when it comes to hiring nowadays. It’s among the most honest I’ve read, that sometimes we hiring managers need to look inward. Besides, sometimes we’re candidates too!

The main force behind hiring isn’t to bring out the best in people. Instead, what really is driving hiring is the fear of making a hiring mistake.

There used to be a time when at most 2 interviews were conducted. Offers on the spot were common. Additionally, the hiring manager was more than willing to stand behind their decision, and take the consequences good or bad. Now, like so many other decisions, they’re buried in a committee so that nobody has to take personal responsibility.

When it comes to listing so many “must have”‘s and absolute requirements, the unspoken guard is if the applicant doesn’t work out, the hiring manager can say, “Well, at least they had cherished Hot-Tech-of-the-Day” experience.

What is even more contradictory in 2004 is to see that alongside demands of experience, employers also say that candidates must be into “lifelong learning.” Yet to express to an employer that one is committed to learning in an era where almost anything we want to know about is at our fingertips is grounds for immediate rejection. Hiring managers need to rethink this because just as they continue proliferating the fear of making a hiring mistake, one day they’ll find themselves downsized through no fault of their own and nobody will want to take a chance on them.

For more advice, I’d strongly recommend Robert F. Wilson’s book _Conducting Better Job Interviews._ Just as vital as it is to avoid letting the wrong candidate in, it is just as important (if not moreso) to not let the right candidate slip through the cracks of an imperfect hiring system. That’s especially true in a world where requirements are changing constantly, and yesterday’s prized knowledge is hereby obsolete.

Glenn

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