Today's jobless have it especially difficult, not just because of the state of the economy but because jobs are changing quickly. New job descriptions (can anyone explain social media strategist?) are popping up constantly and building a resume to suit roles that are moving targets is tricky business.
At a panel discussion hosted in NYC by 3Plus International earlier this month, one woman told the group about her difficulty getting employers to take her seriously as she attempts to shift from a career in the non-profit sector back into the corporate world, where she started years ago. So whether the challenge is about starting over or making a change, the general malaise seems to involve a lot of confusion about what recruiters want these days. The popular recruiting site, The Ladders (specializing in placing people in the $100k salary range and above), even has a high-end product to figure it all out for job-seekers, that for well over $2k, promises a job offer, or your money back.
Employers looking to hire on the other hand are struggling to do it quickly enough, complaining of a lack of qualified talent. So where's the disconnect?
Here is one perspective, from Katherine Turo, Senior Recruiter from Lionbridge Technologies, who says that the challenge lies in finding people with "proven experience" and recommends candidates rethink their strategies and emphatically asks that applicants "list what they have achieved, not what they have done!"
Even the advertising world, once heavily populated by creative types, is now crawling with analytical techies who would have all media spend shift to performance media (i.e. media that you can track, measure and quantify return on investment for) and may very well succeed in doing so in the coming years as the power of Television and Print advertising continues its downward spiral.
The lesson appears to be, if it's not measurable it's not real. So job hunters would do well to wear the analytical hat to get their foot in the door in today's job market. Using the new vocabulary of everything is quantifiable means that resumes are less about art or narrative and more about science and numbers. The ideal candidate is probably comfortable in both worlds, meaning that those who can translate back and forth from numbers to stories are most likely to get the attention of recruiters and still be able to survive the interview process, which of course will always be about telling stories.
Nathalie tweets as @globalmisfit and provides weekly business tips for creative entrepreneurs as part of the MbC.
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