Penny for Your Thoughts: Procurement Opportunity and Candidate Disconnect

I recently started a discussion in some of the procurement forums on LinkedIn to see what possible answers today's procurement job candidates and other interested parties had for the disconnect between available openings and seeking candidates. There are so many opportunity postings - many of which contain phrases like 'desperately seeking' or 'urgent requirement'. On the other hand, half of the people on LinkedIn seem to be looking for jobs - whether they are currently employed or not.

I asked, "Penny for Your Thoughts: Why don't the seekers and the sought line up?" I don't profess to have the answer, but some very interesting responses were given. One of the key differentiators that I saw in people's reactions was the assignment of responsibility. Does the burden to fix the problem rest with the hiring companies or with the candidates themselves? Personally, I would prefer that at least part of the responsibility lie with each candidate. Although it is hard to admit a skills weakness, I would rather be in a position to remedy my own situation by reading, going back to school or pursuing a certification than to be at the mercy of a broken process.

Before I go into the actual responses I received, one theme that arose time and time again was that recruiters are the root of all evil - and that includes both human resources departments and third party recruiting firms. This sinister group of people amuses themselves by posting jobs that don't actually exist and then toying with candidates by telling them "if only you had come along a month sooner" or "I think you are a perfect fit, but the hiring manager wants a redhead/someone taller/a Ph.D." Or worse yet - you hear nothing at all. While we've all experienced our share of frustration with recruiters, the fact is that they are compensated based on filling positions. No candidate, no dinner. And while expressing frustration is healthy from time to time, we need to remember that it is possible for the system to be improved without ordering an exorcism for all recruiters. Probably.

Here are portions of three of the best responses I received. Each one captures a different part of the problem - which I believe really does exist. The reason it is so complicated is that there are many problems. Positions get over exposed on sites like LinkedIn, resulting in too many misfit applications for screeners to handle. The ease of applying allows candidates to submit resumes whether they are really invested in a position or not. And procurement as a profession is going through a fundamental transformation, where changing expectations mean the best candidates are found outside of procurement.

Hiring managers have no imagination. They are looking for cookie cutter candidates that match the position description exactly.

While this feels like a downside, it is actually a good thing. A position that is not well-defined may be evidence of indecision about the role. The more specific the description, the more thorough the hiring process can be. Taking this one step further, if a description is very detailed and you are unable to meet more than a couple of qualifications, don't waste your time applying. They didn't detail out their requirements in order to let them pass unfilled.

We can complain about being told we are under qualified, but each of us needs to keep learning and developing to make themselves a valuable commodity to hiring companies.

Absolutely true - new college graduates often face the issue that they have lots of knowledge but little or no experience. Seasoned professionals may have the opposite issue; not that they don't have any knowledge, but their knowledge may not be the most current or may have been replaced by years of less formal hands-on experience. The best possible situation is a combination of the two - so depending on which you have more of (experience or knowledge) the goal should always be to keep acquiring more of the other.

I never seem to get a chance to explain myself in person or over the phone, so how do you represent desirable qualities like growth potential and innovative thinking in a resume?

Every company is looking for a candidate with that certain "razzle dazzle" they've been looking for. But how does one prove they have razzle dazzle on a resume without sounding less than credible or completely obnoxious? This is especially challenging since candidates often rely on interviews to let those more personal qualities show through. We all have listings of past project work on our resumes, and pointing out what you learned from a project can be an effective way of communicating less tangible skills. Besides allowing yourself to appear pleasantly modest, you also indirectly make the exact point that you are capable and enthusiastic about learning.

The employment disconnect is not isolated to procurement. A recent special report by The Economist called "The Great Mismatch" credits London Business School professor Lynda Gratton with the notion that "the pace of change will be so rapid that people may have to acquire a new expertise every few years if they want to be part of the lucrative market for scarce talent." And who doesn't want to be part of that? I certainly do.

So by doing a little bit of self-recruiting by only seriously considering jobs that are really a fit, by continuing to build your professional skills in a way that you can demonstrate to prospective employers, and by taking the time to make sure your resume accurately reflects your quantifiable and intangible intellectual assets, you stand the best chance of landing the job you've been seeking.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, I received messages from several respondents asking where their "pennies" were. I take that as a very good sign. Losing your sense of humor is the worst thing that can happen from the stresses of a long term job search. On the other hand, maybe it is a sign that they should widen their searches to consider positions in accounting or finance..

Kelly Barner is the Co-owner of Buyers Meeting Point, an online knowledge and networking site for procurement professionals. www.buyersmeetingpoint.com