The Great Mismatch in the Job Market

21 September 2021, 08:40 AM

https://www.vox.com/recode/226...din-indeed-algorithm

Why everybody’s hiring but nobody’s getting hired

Not a lot of hard data, a lot of blame on over-reliance on technology and over-specification of jobs. Still, an informative piece attempting to shine more light on why there are so many who want to hire but haven’t while simultaneously there are also so many who want jobs but cannot get one.

21 September 2021, 09:05 PM

Nina

I agree that a lot of the AI involved with screening resumes and applicants is really bad. I also agree that many job descriptions seem to be written with the idea "let's ask for everything we might possibly want, and a master's degree to boot," because why not?

Good automated hiring platforms will allow you to specify minimum requirements, and automatically remove from consideration anyone who doesn't meet these minimums. But employers can go way overboard on those minimums. I assume that means that if there is a unicorn out there, they don't want to miss them. Unfortunately, it means they are missing some seriously good candidates.

An example: Let's say there is a hypothetical statistician with an AA degree in Math. They are self-taught, have no bachelor's degree, but have 20 years experience with lots of independence and rave reviews. But the job posting is looking for a keyword of "data scientist," (the new, trendy term) and wants a bachelor's degree as a minimum requirement. They will never, ever see this individual's resume, even though they may be exactly the right person for the job.

I've most definitely seen resumes where they are asking for 10+ years of "directly related experience," yet their posted salary range is between the 10th-30th quartile of the market. When you talk to them, they'll say they will negotiate upward for the "right" candidate, but the right candidate, looking at their posted salary range, will never apply.

Sometimes employers are just plain unrealistic. Sometimes employees are.