Right now Congress is battling about how to resolve the budget deficit. Some might argue that the most important issue to improve our economy is to get Americans back to work. According to an article in the Society For Human Resource Management’s HR News, economists suggest that jobs should have been the focus of the Super Committee all along.
However, in areas of the country where there is job recovery, there seems to be another problem. There is a significant gap between skills needed for these jobs and skilled workers ready to go to work.
The SHRM article asked for responses concerning the skills deficits in job applicants for specific organizations. A response from the Arlington, VA Workforce Investment Board said that in some cases job seekers just don’t know how to promote themselves. When responding to the question “Why do you want this job” the applicant’s answer may be – “Because I want a job.” Not a good way to highlight the skills a worker could bring to the company.
Job seekers need to be aware that the current economic productivity is similar to levels reached prior to the 2007 -2009 recession, but there are millions more people out of work. The good news is that 58% of companies that laid off workers during the recession are making direct replacement of those jobs. The bad news is that many of those jobs now require completely new skill sets.
The applicant needs to be able to separate him- or herself from the pack by highlighting the talents and skills they bring. Recently there has been a change in the focus of the HR Recruiters from years of experience to actual skill sets available in the job seeker pool- reflecting the trend of changing skill requirements.
The really interesting issue highlighted by companies responding to the SHRM-posted question said that the most common skill deficiencies in applicants are 1) writing in English 2) math skills 3) reading comprehension and 4) speaking in English. The cited language deficiencies could be easily addressed by applicants through local training organizations. Students in secondary or post-secondary educational institutions need to be aware of these needs and be focused on heightening their skills going forward.
Hiring, or hunting for a job are stressful and difficult processes, and even with the right skills, or the right group of applicants the one thing we all need is persistence and a sense of humor. Good hunting!
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