Companies Missing Out on Great Employees

Picture by Daniel Millhouse

In today's job market many corporations have become too narrowly focused in their search for new employees. Often recruiters are too cookie cutter in their approach which prevents them from discovering employees that might have the exact experience they're searching for, but have a skillset that not only would help them meet the needs of the job, but also excel at that very job.

Fashion retail can often be a perfect example of this. Many fashion retailers will look for experienced managers to run their stores, only looking at candidates that either worked for their competition. Sometimes their qualifications can be so strict that only a past employee can meet them. Companies will require experience in a particular piece of computer software that is proprietary to that company, meaning only a former employee is the only person that would have past experience using it.

The problem with this type of narrow search is that potential job seekers who have a wealth of knowledge and/or experience can often be overlooked. As in the previous example of fashion retail, they will often overlook someone who may have worked in retail selling other similar types of products such as shoes.

Many times, a recruiter will also overlook someone because they haven't worked in the same exact field, missing out on a chance to hire someone who has a skillset that could easily translate into the type of work they are looking for. An employee with years of electronics retail management experience for example, should easily be able to transfer those skills into sporting goods. A solid manager has the base of skills needed to manage any type of retail. Common sense, hiring/training/development, profits and losses reports, sales techniques, public relations, cash management, and more.

And a skillset doesn't even have to remain within the same industry. Many different industries can use similar skillsets. A manager in retail for example can work in an administrative office setting because many of the skills of those positions are interchangeable. A social media manager has the right computer skills that could fit with a data entry job as well. A radio DJ could be a good stadium announcer. All jobs that are in different industries, but with similar skillsets.

A good recruiter could find someone that fits the cookie cutter mold of what they are looking for, but a great recruiter is willing to look for someone that fits outside of the box and can be awesome in the role they are looking to fill because they bring a wealth of outside knowledge with them.