Hi everyone,
I’ve made the decision to embark on a new journey. Maria and I have decided to move on (and out of the US) to start a new chapter in our lives.
I’m starting a new series called Job Hunting. Where I’ll share the progress of my job search. Since I’m not in a rush for leaving my current job I’ve set up deadlines for each phase. I’ve given myself until year’s end to make a decision.
This is not gonna be a series about “This is what you need to do to…”. I’m sharing this endeavor with you for 2 reasons.
– You may also be looking to change jobs and the steps I take may steer you on the right direction
– To hear your opinion. There’s a lot of things I could be missing and your opinion will not only help myself but others who are in the same situation. This is going to be a crowd-sourced job hunt.
If you are waiting for a 600 hundred word post to get the answer I’m sorry to disappoint you: the answer is it depends.
Put yourself in the shoes of an employer: Would you prefer a mindless zombie or a highly talented person? The answer is obvious. But, what if you were looking for a person to work at an iPod assembly line? The job would consist in grabbing iPods, sticking them in a box and closing the box… next iPod. Why would you need someone with an IQ of 140 to do that job? If for any reason that person gets hired, I give him or her 2 days in the factory.
Thing is, every job has different requirements. Hiring an intellectually adequate fit for each job is something most recruiters and hiring managers keep in mind. HR people have a saying “right job for the right person, right person for the right job”. Taking someone who is not a good fit for a given position may put you back in employee-seeker world too soon. Some could challenge this, arguing that sometimes you hire an over-qualified candidate because he/she seems like a good prospect for the company; and this is a valid point. There’s an element of gambling in every recruitment process but if the company has a clear idea of where it wants to develop this person to, hiring an over-qualified candidate may be the way to go. It’s tricky.
The landscape of graduate recruitment has changed. We’re surpassing the era where employers would hire candidates based solely on experience, skills or grades and transpiring into a period where many of the softer human qualities are desired in fresh talent. This portends a more equitable recruitment sphere and breeds a new millennial that is not only intellectually capable of the business world but also emotionally ready.
In a recent survey conducted by the NUS Careers Centre, that polled the results of 118 different companies, Communication, Passion, Analytical Thinking, Interpersonal Skills and a Desire to Learn were ranked foremost as the top five qualities essential for new graduates. The study was conducted in light of the Graduate Global Talent Development Programme (GGTP) – a new initiative by NUS to cultivate global-minded graduates. In (brackets) is the percentage of employers that ranked it in their top 5.
Recruiting and retaining are two challenging tasks in the HR/Mgmt world. Key to it, is realizing what population we are considering to fill those spots in the workplace. Today, a great percentage of those applicants were born between 1980 and 1999 and grew up during the 1990s and 2000s . ...
