Jobs picture
I had a lot of fun last Friday being interviewed during a call-in talk show on KPCC — an NPR station in Southern California. The subject was Another Side of the Jobs Picture… The purpose was to discuss whether or not there truly is a skills mismatch or shortage.
Based on ManpowerGroup’s recent research, we see that there is. 52% of the employers we interviewed are having trouble filling key position. The counterpoint to my point was a woman from the UCLA Institute for Research on Jobs and Employment. She tried to argue that there was no evicence of a talent mismatch — but I didn’t feel her arguments were very strong.
And those who called into the radio program — and most of those who have commented on the story — agree with me. Employers are having trouble finding people with the skills they need. And employees who have been well trained and who have the education required for today’s jobs are finding they have their pick of positions.
So what do you think? Is there a skills mismatch?
October 13th, 2011 at 2:43 am
Recently I assisted a local charity in finding a new Executive Director. I received over one hundred resumes. The problem I had is that most of the resumes I received did not clearly site how they met the job requirements. When an employer has to review more than a hundred resumes for one job post, you can bet that they learn how to sort them quickly. Of the resumes I received I sent questionnaires to about 15. There were probably resumes that got passed over because they were not specific to the job post. You have to be specific if you are going to be part of the cream that rises to the top.
October 21st, 2011 at 3:58 pm
I believe that it isn’t so much about peoples’ skills not matching available jobs. It’s more about the fact that people are not adjusting well to changes in hiring trends and are ill-equipped to perform effective job searches and market themselves through applications, resumes and interviews. As Ronnie Holt expressed, there seems to be a discrepancy between a jobseeker’s actual capability to do the job and how they attempt to portray this on their resume. Therefore, talented people may get overlooked. The skills required to do effective job searching, develop good resumes and interview well are the skills that many talented, qualified jobseekers lack. Those who are both talented and know how to market that talent get the jobs.