What Makes You Different?

You’re focused and ready to execute your “plan,” right? Well, maybe you don’t have a full plan yet, given there are so many unanswered questions, such as what are the proper ways to apply for a job. But at least you have (hopefully) narrowed your focus to either money, opportunity, or title. Navigating the complex interview/hiring process is important to understand. It is a process that has become incredibly inefficient and complex (in my opinion). In turn, it ends up biting the company in the ass as they miss out on stellar talent. I’ll explain below…?

In today’s market (November/December (2022), when you see a job posting, it has about a 50% chance (give or take) of being a legit job. Legit meaning you (an external candidate) have a chance at making it through the interview process and receiving an offer. You’re probably sitting here thinking, “What? I thought if it’s posted on LinkedIn, that it’s legit.”

Sadly, No.?

Say a hiring manager (we’ll call him Joe Shmoe in this example) wants to hire for an consumer marketing director for an upcoming launch. Joe Shmoe has an internal candidate on his team (we’ll call her Sally ) who has been CRUSHING it. Sally has great reviews, always thinking outside the box and always going above and beyond. Joe is saying it’s a no-brainer to promote Sally (and rightfully so).?

But in comes HR…..?

Most internal HR groups will tell Joe that he must advertise the role externally (on LinkedIn and/or on other online sites) for a given period. Some HR groups even go another step further and tell Joe he must interview a given number of external candidates (most of the time 3-5 candidates) DESPITE THE FACT JOE WANTS TO PROMOTE SALLY!! Right off the bat, there are two major issues (in my opinion): Joe AND the external applicant are just wasting time (and how awkward for Joe), plus the experience from the external candidate’s perspective likely won’t be a positive one after they find out they went with an internal candidate.?

According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, a dissatisfied person will typically tell 9 to 15 people. A study by American Express says 88% of people are influenced by reviews. Could this influence online applicants and candidates? If a company continues to provide candidates with a negative experience, would that impact long-term growth, given the difficulty to recruit strong candidates??

Well, what are the best practices for applying online? How do I avoid speaking with a “Joe Shmoe” and being just another number for their interview process? It’s honestly a tough question because the HR industry lacks transparency (and yes, I’m calling it out). But there are a few things you can do to increase your odds.?

Utilize LinkedIn to build your network (with both industry folks and good recruiters). When an applicable role comes around, reach out to them (your network) for insight. Secondarily, apply online as your last resort. I run into so many people whom I talk to for a role but then tell me they applied online to the company. They are PERFECT for the job (could have been on the competing brand)! How did nobody see their profile??

If you apply online, we third-party recruiters cannot represent you in the hiring process with the company (for typically six months to a year). Even if you applied for a different position (in most cases) we could not represent you. What happens when you apply online? Well, we all know it’s just a black hole. It seems as if most of the time, HR won’t read all of the resumes, and lots can “slip through the cracks.” Maybe it’s not careless, but they’re (HR) just overworked. Each job typically has a given internal HR contact working with the hiring manager to fill the job. At most companies, they’re responsible for reviewing the resume submissions to the hiring manager.

Each individual (HR) can have, on average, 50 (give or take) jobs they are working on at once. I’ve heard numbers as high as 84 jobs at once. If each job has 75 applicants, that’s 75 applicants x 50 jobs = 3,750 submissions they are trying to manage. There is just no way anyone can go through that many applicants. So give them slack here—they are just overworked in many cases. This is part of the reason the application process is very inefficient.?

I recently had a hiring manager vent to me because his HR lead sent over 77 resumes, and none of the candidates were in industry (or at least the first few he saw weren’t). Do you think he had time to review any of them? NOPE. Sorry to the (maybe) one or two out of 77 who applied and was a fit but never heard back. How common is this? I see it at least 3-5x per week.?

This is the harsh reality of the application process. Not every job posting will have an external recruiter working on it, so utilizing your network is key. But as I initially mentioned, the application process is very inefficient, and the inefficiency ends up biting external candidates in the butt.

If you recall from the first article (“what’s my focus”), being opportunity-focused is key. Having a unique profile is almost a necessity now. In a sea of 3,750 resumes, what makes you different??

Cheers,

Nick