The Critical Path in Recruiting and Hiring Employees: Finding What you Need – by JP Rosso

Hiring managers & HR pros’ looking to fill positions are experienced at developing ‘job descriptions’ & ‘basic requirements’ for the candidates to bring to the table.  Then they go ‘on the hunt’ and post the job.

In today’s world, more & more companies are taking advantage of algorithm-driven, artificial intelligence platforms to collect & parse the CV’s received.  The SaaS platform providers promise they’re delivering “only the most qualified candidates to your desk, saving you time & money!”

However, you could very well be missing “what you need”.  Why?

The algorithm used by the ‘applicant platform’ you’re using can’t ‘think’ or ‘judge’.  It’s programmed to look for specific words & phrases.  If the program finds them in the CV, then that CV is pushed on to HR or the hiring manager.  But if the program doesn’t find those keywords or phrases, those CV’s are discarded. No experienced human eyes get to look at them.

As a result, you may have missed “finding what you need.”

Early to mid-career positions absolutely need a certain level of education, experience & industry knowledge.  Industry knowledge accrued over a career is certainly very, very valuable.  But in a tight job market (like we’re currently in), isn’t “what you need” someone with demonstrated success in applying certain foundational skills that can directly transfer to your industry?

EG: you’re staffing a senior business development role in a company selling medical devices.  The platforms deliver candidates with some level of industry knowledge but are not finding candidates with experience leading sales teams, on a national level, selling medical devices.  Why?  Because certain keywords weren’t picked up in the CV by the “applicant platform” you’re using.

So consider this: what if a CV made it to your desk from an applicant who had experience leading national sales teams, from a different but equally high tech industrial sector, who sold custom manufactured components to a medical device manufacturer.  If the person had the sales team leadership & national account experience, wouldn’t you want to at least talk to them?  They have the sales experience.  And when you stop to think about it, they also have specific sector knowledge, just from a different angle; selling to medical device manufacturers, just not the devices themselves.

How does this work?  A senior business development person has to know all the factors (market, tech changes, regulatory, etc.) which impact his “manufacturing” clients.  In this case, the same market shifts impacting the device manufacturer also impact the critical component supplier to the manufacturer.  What does this mean?

They may in fact actually know the medical device industry with equal expertise, just from a different angle.  They have the underlying skill set for “what you need.”  Think about it; are you “finding what you need?” Perhaps you should start considering foundational skills and take the time to look at more than just the CV’s presented by the ‘platform’.  Invest a little time.  You may just find “what you need.”