Come Work for Us
Consider the following thought experiment. Assume that you want to build an extension on your house. You post an advertisement for a general contractor and you get three candidates. You interview each of the candidates and ask, “Please tell me about the tools you’ve used in your job.”
The first candidate explains that the tools he has used the most are a router, planer, jointer, table saw, scroll saw, biscuit joiner and orbital sander. The second candidate replies that he regularly uses various types of clamps, a lathe, MIG welder, angle grinder and HVLP paint sprayer. The third candidate says that she is skilled with a hammer, drill and saw.
You face a tough decision. Do you hire the first or second candidate? At least you can eliminate the third candidate: she doesn’t seem to use elaborate tools in her trade. You decide to ask one more question: “What do you do with your tools?”
“I build bookcases,” the first candidate replies.
“I create a blend of wood and metal artwork,” answers the second candidate.
The third candidate is still available so you ask her. “I build houses,” she tells you.
Why do job postings cite long lists of technologies as the criterion for employment and focus so little on accomplishments? A posting from my own company required the prospective hire to have five years of experience with a specific technology. The problem was the technology was only two years old.
Suppose you had experience in every technical area cited in a job posting. Why would you want to join that company: you’d be doing the same job as what you have now? And when a company cites a long list of technical know-how needed for a job, I’m left wondering about the capabilities of the current staff if the company needs to hire someone with so much experience in specific areas.
As a hiring manager, I am most interested in a candidate’s readiness and enthusiasm to accept new challenges. Of course, a job seeker needs sufficient technical expertise to do the work. But a shopping list of acronyms on a resume is not my way to evaluate skills. Unfortunately, too few hiring managers evaluate candidates based on their capabilities and that is a loss for both parties.
