The Talent Gap. Viewpoint.

Is it a lack of qualified candidates or is it a lack of talented and skilled labor? This question demonstrates today’s struggle employers and job seekers are experiencing when engaged in the masterful shell game; hiring and getting hired. 

What can be done?  Businesses and organizations need to effectively employ legacy or institutional  knowledge transfer of more seasoned workers onto new and emerging talent within their organizations.

Skilled trades need to amp up apprenticeships to leverage the ability for knowledge transfer before it is too late, and educational institutions need to begin forging new concepts for career planning by offering coursework and learning that supports a brighter future for great possibilities with marketable skills that are in demand, now and in the future.

With an onslaught of retiring workers on the move, it is imperative that businesses create strategies to bolster continued growth into the next decade and that job seekers plan for a career path versus settling for a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke).  

Individual responsibility is a necessary requirement to defining a career pathway and seeking out resources, in the local community and remotely, that offer training and apprenticeships to prepare for future careers with emphasis in technology, skilled trades and beyond.   

HR executives and hiring managers claim it is the lack of qualified candidates. Job seekers claim it is a lack of good paying jobs and difficulty uncovering viable opportunities. Both are correct and in most cases, the employer and the job seeker, are to blame.

10 Reasons Employers and Job Seekers Stand in Their Own Way:

1. Candidates apply for job opportunities that they are clearly NOT qualified to execute. 

Tip:  Technology is used to process online job applications.  Robots “read” resumes.  If your resume does not feature specific required qualifications from the job posting, you will receive a rejection email in your inbox.

2. Resume’s that do not build value or demonstrate the ability to fulfill the requirements featured in the job posting.

Tip:  Make the investment and hire a qualified career coach or use online resources to ensure your resume is properly read by the software “robots” used to filter resumes in online application tools and that is easily read when sharing or supplying manually through email or other channels.

3. Failing to use a cover letter that connects the resume and work history to the job qualifications and requirements in the job description. 

Tip:  Less than 30% of job postings require a cover letter, however, that doesn’t mean you should not have a cover letter.  What you should know…keep a cover letter to one page, focus on three to four key skills/abilities featured in the job description and match to your qualifications.  Be specific and avoid oversharing personal information, many people have talked themselves OUT of a job by revealing too many personal details.

4. Candidates with “one size fits all” generic degrees or a background with no specific direction or focus. 

Tip:  If you don’t know what you want to do or where you are going on your career pathway; how can an employer understand your value and where you fit?

5. Employers in need of candidates with Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) skills or skilled trade background and the selection of qualified individuals is limited.

Tip:  Attract motivated, reliable, and dependable candidates with the possibility of learning new skills or a trade by investing and spending the monies necessary for engaging potential new hires.

6. Candidates not engaging the necessary planning and preparation for job interview success; “just showing up” is NOT enough.

Tip:  Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.  Behavioral interviews are most common and understanding how to respond to job interview questions using the proper formula, with practice, will help hiring managers understand your ability to do the job.

7. Employers looking for “Superman” when “Robin” will do.

Tip:  Is there potential?  Potential is a key factor when evaluating talent.  Does the candidate have the POTENTIAL with existing abilities to be “upskilled” into a role versus waiting for the perfect hire?

8. Candidates failing to execute a resume that is adaptive for upload and filtering by Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) and the lack of keywords sprinkled throughout the document in order to “get found” to “get hired”.

Tip:  Follow directions.  If a job description REQUIRES a Bachelor’s degree, your resume must meet the qualification.  If a job description PREFERS a Bachelor’s degree and you have an Associate’s degree, you can apply for that job.  REQUIRES vs. PREFERS.

9. Employers FAILING to be specific and clear as to required and preferred skills in the job description, clarity regarding essential functions of a role, and defining expectations.

10. Employers, hiring managers, and recruiters who are poorly trained on appropriate interview techniques and strategies to uncover qualified candidates for hire.

These are just a few examples that stand in the way of good employers and qualified candidates finding meaningful possibilities to align goals and objectives for successful employment.

Good luck!