Revolution in the Employment Market

Changes in the economy have impacted areas that had gone unchallenged for decades. Take hiring practices for instance. Some of things employers traditionally look for in job candidates, and that have been the syllabus for HR management classes ever since the field was called "personnel", are now undergoing serious revision. With four generations in the workforce, and major volatility at all levels, across industries, there is now a revolution underway in the employment market.

Lets' look at some of the "best practices" in hiring and see whether, in today's employment market, we need to re-think some of them, because, as we are all beginning to see, the world just does not work that way anymore.

1. Employment history. When screening candidates, we have always looked for stability. The longer a candidate was at their previous job, and the less they moved around, the better. Among the many compelling reasons we need to change our own paradigms for screening candidates, and as the U.S Department of Labor states, "Today's learner will have had 14 Jobs by the time they are 38 years of age". That's an average of a new job every 1.5 years". The implication is even greater for new-hire training, as each employee in the career force represents about 2,245 induction hours. How will companies that are cutting their training budgets be able to meet this new wave of demand?

2. Education & experience. While looking for candidates whose educational qualifications match the job requirements, it is important to point out that, according to Did You Know 3.0, "the top 10 jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004, students are currently preparing for jobs that don't exist, using technologies that have not yet been invented, to solve problems that we don't know are problems yet." In addition, "Half of the content learned in their first year of college will be outdated in their third year. The critical factor to look for may be learning agility. In other words, the predictors for success are changing dramatically.

3. History of progressive and increased levels of responsibility. The questions hiring managers ask are, "How often has the candidate been promoted?", "Has their career ladder been a consistent upward curve?" Why are we looking for those who haven't ever experienced a big failure or set-back, and those whom have never taken any risks without negative consequences? If we are looking to build a more resilient workforce, then maybe a little failure in their history, and the lessons learned from it, are a good thing.

4. Credit history. This is where many hiring managers these days may become sympathetic. The average credit score in Texas right now is 660 and 669 nationally, which falls into a 15% delinquency rate. Some excellent job candidates may be faring much worse than these numbers indicate, with under-employment, or the U-6 rating currently at 17.5 in Texas, the highest since the index was established by the Bureau of Labor & Statistics in 1994.

5. Salary history -This is an area where volatility may indicate needed flexibility,like team players who took pay-cuts or lesser job roles for reasons other than just compensation. Looking at their highest earning levels, over time, may be a better benchmark than their most recent.

Other considerations. Once upon a time, job candidates with gaps in employment, having moved from job-to-job, erratic salary history, a disparity of job roles and positions held, and an education seemingly unrelated to job qualifications, would have all landed in the reject pile. Today, consideration of core competencies, not just skills, may better match the needs of both employers and job seekers. There is now a greater age range in the candidate pool, and diversity is taking on new meaning, as the work force becomes increasingly global. It may very well be that a firms durable advantage can be found through human capital at its' best: diverse, dynamic, adaptable, resilient, and perhaps, with just a little bit of an edge gained from having weathered the biggest economic storm in recent history.