Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Shortage of qualified applicants? A myth. Here is one of the explanations. Sorry if this exposes what you wear under your kilt.

There is a shortage of…

• qualified programmers
• qualified analysts
• qualified engineers
• qualified qualifiers

that is why we want more fill-in-the-blank-with-magical-government-magic.

Listen to what companies say: “We can’t find qualified fill-in-the-blank-persons.”

True statement. Note, the company representatives didn’t say, “Qualified fill-in-the-blank-persons don’t exist.” They merely can’t find them.

Now we are moving closer to the problem. Sorry if this offends you:

Companies have trouble hiring persons.

Big companies have big trouble hiring persons.

Here is a link to a “joke” interview process. The joke is this isn’t a joke. Interviewers ask questions like this and don’t understand the answers they receive.

Answer: Let persons who actually understands what they need in an applicant converse with the applicant.

Note: the above answer does not:

• use the word “interview”
• involve a recruiter
• use a standard interview script

But this is a pollyana world that does not exist. No one can afford to have working fill-in-the-blank-persons step away from their jobs to converse with fill-in-the-blank-persons applying for jobs.

Perhaps. Perhaps that is merely an excuse. Perhaps it is easier to lobby elected officials to plead for magic instead of doing the work.