Designer jobs offered today
I started this thread on Linkin more than 5 months ago. It now has more than 250 comments. The comment below is from Ron Walls. I thought it pretty much hit the nail on the head. Thanks Ron.
:by Douglas Goddard
Ron Walls • @Michelle – What some employer drones and HR pimps don’t realize (or won’t admit) is that this mythical person doesn’t really exist in great enough numbers to help them. The term “purple squirrel” comes to mind – impossible to find, impossible to catch. For any employer – if this person actually did exist, they are already employed. How much are you willing to spend to get this god-like being away from their current employment and into yours?
Here’s two solutions (I know they’re going to seem obvious, so bear with me) to their searching problems:
One – Train and promote from within. Someone in your current employ probably already has most of the skills you desire in this new person, plus they know your procedures and processes, so give them the time and training to learn the rest. Let them go back to school, on their own time if necessary, and reimburse them for it. Then remember to give them a raise for their new duties and expertise.
Two – Hire someone from outside that knows most (80-90% or so) of what you need, and train them to do the rest. Benefits: fully integrated, happier, and more productive employee. They will know how to do things YOUR WAY, and will be more appreciative of the effort and expense you put into their hiring and training. This could also lead to better retention rates, something you won’t get with the “Purple Squirrel” who knows that there’s always someone else out there who will pay more than you will. Remember – if they jumped ship to come to you, they will jump just as quickly to go somewhere else, possibly in the middle of a project.
In closing I would say to many employers: You’re Doing It Wrong. Think long term and you get good long term employees with good long term results. Think short term and you’re shortchanging yourself and your business. You do not want the squirrel.
My suspicion is that some employers don’t really want to hire anyone at all, they just make a show of putting the position out to the public while making the requirements nearly impossible for any one human being to meet. It’s like what many are asking for when they request a “Web Designer”… once upon a time there two distinct disciplines for creating web pages, with some overlap… “artists”, and “programmers”. Two people were hired to work together. One made the website look good, the other made it work well. Each required its own expertise, training and even degrees. Now one “SuperDesigner”(R) is required to do all that, plus SEO and countless other duties, and be expert in all. Now that’s not to say that one shouldn’t learn some of the tools of the other, it’s that one cannot usually be an expert in both (or all).
As Col. Taylor once said, “It’s a Madhouse! A Madhouse!!!”
/pardon my wall of text
via How do you feel about the industry pushing to add Web Designer to your resume? | LinkedIn.
