Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

The second major explanation of what “not a good fit” means.

Now for the second explanation (the first was in the immediately preceding post). This explanation is a bit more complex. Basically, it is the interviewing organization is mismanaged, a.k.a., they don’t know what they are doing.

The interviewing organization is overworked. Their employees are working ten-hour days with no end in sight. Just when things seem under control, yet another disaster hits at 4:45PM on Friday.

These guys need someone to help them so they can go home on time each day. They’ve even hired a few people, but they are all still working too many hours. The new hires just didn’t fit and didn’t cut the hours and didn’t last more than a few weeks.

What is wrong with the job applicant crowd?

Aren’t there any qualified people out there?

Problem 1: The Job Description. The interviewing organization just can’t quite get the job description right. Each round of hiring brings the job description a little closer, but not what is needed.

Problem 2: Something Else. This is the one that hurts the most. There is something else out there that gets in the way. That something else is mysterious, but deadly. We just can’t put our finger on it.

The Answer 1: We don’t know how to manage the work, any of the work. This includes the work of writing a job description and interviewing candidates who are qualified.

The Answer 2: We need to hire our boss. None of us know how to manage the work. We should hire someone who will tell us what to do. That includes tell us to go home on time.

The Answer 3: We won’t admit to answers 1 and 2. Hence, we blame the persons we interview because they just are “not a good fit.”