Seth Godin wrote an interesting post on what employers should be looking for when they hire someone. According to Godin, it seems employers tend to hire people who are better at self-marketing, than they are at doing the actual job. So what if you can think on your feet, create documents without typos and present well to strangers! Chances are that potential employers will go for charisma and clever cover letter writing, before they will hire someone who can actually help them out.
Being on the job hunt myself, I fully agree with Godin's viewpoint. In most cases, I'm just as qualified as anyone to do the job. I have great references with highly reputable companies and a proven track record, yet for some reason certain companies won't hire me. Funny thing is, once they do hire someone, I see the same job ad posted several months later, because their new "hiree" decided to move onto greener pastures. So...what kind of criteria are these companies basing their decisions on? Why can't they see that it's not always the smooth, fast talking types who are able to succeed at job requirements?
I don't for a minute discredit myself by saying that I lack charisma. I've given speeches and presentations to both small and large audiences, and know that I have personality and am able to genuinely connect with people. So...what's missing?
Maybe it's time for employers to look beyond the superficial and really take a hard look at someone's experience and potential. Jim Collins, in his #1 Bestselling book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, says that "In a good-to-great transformation, people are not your most important asset. The right people are."
Maybe I just haven't found the right company yet. If you have any ideas or comments, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I better get busy on that cover letter...
