AM I QUALIFIED FOR THIS JOB? AND DOES IT MATTER?…

How an experienced hiring manager changed his approach to looking for his next job.

Throughout my career, I have been part of the hiring process in several different capacities. Finding new talent—especially in unexpected places—has always been one of my favorite parts of the job. From weeding resumés and consulting with C-suite management, to being directly responsible for top-end talent hires, I can say with confidence that I understand the hiring process, what to look for, and who makes a good hire.

On the other side of the table, I have also been a job hunter. I have successfully led teams for some of the largest brands in the world, as well as some of the best small boutique agencies. And as I’ve embarked on the journey to find a new position this past year, I can say with confidence that I don’t understand the hiring process, what they’re looking for, and what makes a good hire.

I have a firm grasp on what the right hire means to a company. It’s a relationship that requires trust, honesty, positivity, and maybe even a little joy. I’m a massive believer in the importance of team dynamics and know full well how one bad apple can sour the bushel.

To that end, functioning as a hiring manager taught me to sometimes look past the qualifications, and even the specific experience, and focus on what that person brings to the party. Whether it’s a different perspective, a big energy, or industry background from way deep in left field, there’s an instinct that’s honed over time that allows you the see the trees versus the forest.

So, possessing all that knowledge and experience, and putting myself in the mindset of what other hiring managers want to see from applicants, where’s the delta?

THE SYSTEM

With the overwhelming amount of people currently on the job market, hiring managers in all industries are absolutely bombarded with resumés any time they post a job listing. I recently saw an opportunity on LinkedIn that had been posted a mere 45 minutes prior that already had 300 applications submitted for the job. If that’s not a carryover from an earlier post, that’s more than 6 resumés every minute. Putting myself in the place of a hiring manager, that’s daunting to say the least.

I think all job hunters labor under the assumption that CVs need to pass through scores of digital filters within a (seemingly insidious) ATS system before a human being even sees it. While this is mostly true, there are some experiences I’ve had lately that potentially question that assumption… or at least seem a little puzzling.

CHECKING BOXES

I’m sure I’m not alone in submitting dozens of resumes over the past months in hopes of landing something that actually interests me. While I’m very selective about what permanent positions I apply for, when it comes to short-stint projects or contract work I’m very much less discerning. And make no mistake—regardless of my experience, achievements, or reputation in the field, I’m well aware there are others that possess similar skillsets who are also vying for those projects. So, the idea of having a resumé that matches as closely as possible to the job description is super important to me. Also like many others, I have different resumés for different areas of interest, each making certain skills more prominent depending on the position. This is not only perfectly acceptable in today’s market, but also recommended by most “experts.” Plus, LinkedIn nicely provides your “standing” regarding selected jobs, indicating what percentile you fall into compared to other applicants.

So with my resumé customized to the job description, a gold-star “you are a top prospect” assurance from LinkedIn, and a dazzling cover letter (more on that later), I apply to these positions/projects knowing FULL WELL I’ll get a phone call within MINUTES of submitting my materials…

But the calls never come.

What was missing? Where did I fall short? What skillset didn’t match the job description? ?Rereading my resumé and cover letter I concluded that, were I doing the hiring for this job, I would DEFINITELY hire me. So, what’s the story? I realized it was time to take things to the next level with a quick experiment.

THE BIG IMPORTANT EXPERIMENT

As a test, I decided to try and “trick” the system with the help some modern tech sorcery. For a particular job listing, I copied the entire length of the description, requirements, etc., and entered them into Chat GPT. Then I prompted the software to create a resumé using the EXACT job description and skill elements. I reformatted the resulting text, added in my job history—including relevant results achieved in each position—and created a SPOT-ON MATCH RESUMé for that position. Surely the automated system would recognize this as the CV of the absolutely perfect candidate for the job. My skillset, experience, and qualifications matched the job description, quite literally, WORD FOR WORD. A 100% match. Take THAT, LinkedIn percentages!

Now I can only ask you to trust me that, ultimately, I wouldn’t have taken the job based on a completely fabricated resumé. I like money as much as the next guy but have always prided myself on honesty and integrity. That said, in the name of “science” (used loosely), I couldn’t WAIT for my brilliant experiment to succeed.

Instead of the expected call and immediate offer of employment, I received a stock rejection letter via email. The letter stated that the company was going to “proceed with candidates that more closely match the job requirements and experience.”

Say what? How in the name of Zeus is that possible?? If there’s another applicant whose resume better matches that job description, I’d like to see it immediately. Because there’s just no chance in Hades. Something is fishy here, hiring manager. Was it a position that was required by policy to post externally even though there wasn’t a real job available? (yeah… ?that’s a thing, folks.) I cross-checked the original job listing to my faux-semé to confirm and, yep, it was a perfect match. The world’s best candidate. Hmmmm…

SO, WHAT NEXT?

With the crash and burn of my fool-proof experiment, and the realization that I wouldn’t be published in any scientific journals anytime soon, I needed to reevaluate my approach. To be honest, I was so very thrown by the lack of result, I spent some time not knowing what to do next. Was the ATS system smart enough to see through my ruse? Did a human being ever see my Nobel-worthy cover letter? Where was I lacking? So many questions… so much confusion.

Up to this point, I had always taken great pains to ensure that I only applied for jobs that were a 75% or higher match. Meaning, that I possessed a minimum of 75% of the requirements from the description—even though as a hiring manager, I wouldn’t necessarily be looking for that high a match in candidates. But, after my failed experiment, I realized even THAT wasn’t enough to squeak into the mix. So that very day, using my own original resume (not the Chat GPT witchcraft version), I applied for a job where I matched 30% of the requirements from the listing… and that’s rounding up. The most notable mismatch was the requirement the applicant be bilingual, which I am not. But I threw a hail Mary and applied anyway.

And I got a call for an interview. What the..?

UNQUALIFIED… I THOUGHT…

To ensure there wasn’t some gross digital error in their filtering system, I reached out to the hiring manager to confirm they actually wanted to meet, so as not to really waste either of our time. I explained that I wasn’t bilingual and that I noticed it was one of the job requirements. In fact, there were at least 3 specific job requirements I didn’t possess. These weren’t on the “nice to have” list, these were most certainly skills or experience in the “required” section. But they informed me they still wanted to meet.

During the interview, the hiring manager thanked me for my candid letter. When I again broached the subject of bilingual, she replied “eh… it would be nice but it’s not a huge deal if you aren’t.” I further commented about the remaining two requirements I didn’t meet, explaining how my other skills and experience more than made up for those lacking. Again, the response was “Yeah, those requirements aren’t that important.” As the conversation went on, and though not stated directly, it became apparent the job listing to which I applied was a COPY-PASTE from another previously posted position. In fact, it seemed like the hiring manager wasn’t 100% sure what was even IN the job listing, needing to read the list several times as we spoke. She was sweet, polite, generous with her time… and clearly drowning in work.

As I mentioned at the start, I fully understand that HR and hiring managers are being flooded with applications. I have been there. And I’ll forgive them for not knowing their job listing chapter and verse. But what does that mean to those of us who are applying? Are there jobs for which we’re fully qualified but aren’t applying to because we don’t meet the listed qualifications? Are there jobs we DO go after for which we are laughably under-qualified? And are human beings involved at all in identifying that the right people may be applying for the wrong job and vice versa?

START LOOKING AT DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES

From that day forward, there has been a shift in the way I approach job listings. I lowered my “percentile requirement” to somewhere in the 50% range and have applied to many more jobs that I likely wouldn’t have prior to that meeting. The result is having 5 interviews in the span of two months. That’s 3 more than I’ve had in the past year.

There’s absolutely nothing we can do about robots reading our resumes. Though I do think we should require the people receiving our applications to complete a “check all squares that have a resume” bot-detection test. But the latest experience has given me hope that at least at SOME companies, humans intercede and bypass algorithms in favor of using their reasoning.

Everyone has heard the old adages about “irons in the fire” and “casting a lot of lines.” I’ve never been a huge subscriber to this philosophy until recently. I may be a disciple now. Maybe lowering your expectations and casting as many lines possible is the key to finally snagging the big, plump fish out there. It may not be the exact fish you want, but it’s a start.

WRITE A GREAT COVER LETTER… MAYBE… I THINK…

On the subject of cover letters, I have mixed feelings. Part of me believes that they are never seen by anyone or anything—that you literally could paste Led Zeppelin song lyrics in the main body, and no one would be the wiser. At the same time, part of me believes cover letters are the ONLY thing actual human beings see, and therefore should be where you focus the bulk of your attention. Most importantly, does a great cover letter fill in the other 50% of your missing qualifications? Speaking as a former hiring manager IT ABSOLUTELY DOES. I want to know you and your personality. I want to know you’ve worked in areas that could be beneficial to my team, even if they seem disparate. Industry-wide, however, there are differing opinions depending on what side of the table you’re on. Sighting a July, 2022 article post by The Franklin Company:

“Nonetheless, there is genuine ambivalence regarding whether cover letters add any value. Many hiring managers will tell you that a job-specific cover letter is one of the surest ways to?illustrate why you are the right person. Job seekers say the tedious cover letter is not worth the effort. Cover letter writing is annoying, time-consuming, and irrelevant, but the extra effort can pay off.”

Any recruiters/hiring managers out there, please give us all the straight scoop once and for all. Our time has value, too.

THE TROUBLE WITH “PROFESSIONAL ADVICE”

Lastly, take advice from resumé doctors with a grain of salt. I have enlisted the services of 3 different coaches in the past two years. All of them had starkly different advice on format, contents, length, font, color, software and everything else involved. Put my education first, put my education last. Only include my last 3 jobs, include every job I’ve ever had. All of them assured me that with my experience, reputation and achievements it would be a matter of a couple weeks at most before I received an offer—once I made their requested changes, of course. None of the changes made a damn bit of difference in response rate. Zero, zip, zilch. There’s no bona fide, proven, rock-solid format out there. It’s all a crap shoot. Please save your money.

In any event, keep pushing and good luck to all job hunters. Customize your resumé with the matching keywords. Be thoughtful about your applications, but maybe less selective. Help each other out with tips, tricks and referrals. I’d love to say there’s definitive guidance, resources, and answer to all of these questions. Until then, we’re all throwing darts blindfolded.

Maybe that’s my next science experiment.

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