Look past the arbitrary barriers organizations impose in their job vacancy ads.

Job search is all about executing a sound strategy with proven tactics.  I outline these strategies and tactics in my webinar.  But let’s go through a few in detail to give you an idea of how I work one-on-one with individuals to sort through their specific situations.

Minimum years of experience

What about those requisite minimum years of experience? The candidate must have 10 years experience.  Adding this requirement is well intentioned, but it often works against the hiring manager.

Can he or she tell the difference between someone with 10 years' experience and someone with the same one year or experience ten times over—that is someone who performs the same job duties year in and year out, instead of growing in the job and adding more value to the employer with each passing you? No, they can’t evaluate the quality of your work experience until they meet with you face-to-face.  Wouldn't that hiring manager rather have an exceptional worker who performs better than people with a decade of practice even though he or she is only been in the business for six years?

Educational credentials

What about those requisite educational credentials?  The candidate must have a Master`s degree. Consider the employer who wanted to hire a production supervisor. Among the submissions was one from a man who saved his company $125K in the last quarter alone. When the HR representative pointed out that the applicant had only a high school diploma, the CEO's response was predictable. He said, So, you want me to pass over someone who has a documented track record of success because he doesn't have a piece of paper that`s 11 years old? By the way, what we want, they don`t teach in some ivory-tower school. Why, I`d like to see those professors spend just one day on our production floor... You get the picture.

Of course there are some positions where the degree is either required by law or makes perfect sense. But at the end of the day, it`s not education that's wanted; it`s savvy.

Industry specific experience

What about industry specific experience?  Some companies focus too narrowly on their own industry. Why, they say, Barry here has never been in the heavy equipment industry. How can he sell for us? But Barry can sell very well because he has a passion for selling and has mastered many unfamiliar product lines before.

Deadlines

What about deadlines? Most companies set a submission deadline for a resume as a convenient guide. There has only been one truly inflexible deadline in recent decades: the Y2K problem. There was no way to avoid that requirement short of making time stand still.

Many times I have instructed clients who saw a perfect job advertised but the deadline for submission was tomorrow.  No way around it, right?  Wrong…you can almost always get an extension by going right to the heart of the matter - companies want to hire in confidence.

Approach the recruiter or hiring manager in the following way.  Tell them you recognize the deadline and have an older resume to submit but you are passionately interested in the job. However, for that same reason, what you really want the decision-maker to have is not a piece of paper, but a document that will allow him to hire in confidence. You can provide that document, but such quality takes time. Would the manager be willing to trade a little time for a lot of peace of mind? Some won't; most will.  Try it!

If you engage a job search expert, like me, to help you navigate the job search process in this tight competitive market, then you increase your chances of resolving all these unique situations in your favor.  One little piece of advice or assistance can help you land that all-important job or career advancement sooner!