What's My Line?

I grew up in Los Angeles, in walking distance from Universal Studios where I once applied for a summer job as a tour guide.

The application process was pretty rigorous.  You had to show up in person and fill out a 15 page application.  Then there were callbacks a few days later for a personal interview.  And finally, there were ‘try outs.’ 

After the interview I wasn’t too worried about try outs.  I’d been in a number of stage productions at school and felt equally comfortable in the roles of ham or heroine.  I was ready to cry or make a fool of myself on command.

I figured they’d hand us the official tour guide script, give us a half hour to memorize it and have us take turns delivering our lines.  Easy peasy.

Except there was no script.  Instead we were asked to talk for a few minutes about our favorite movie.

My heart raced when I heard this.   My favorite movie back then was Tron and I sensed this wasn’t a Tron crowd.  To make matter worse, Tron was a Disney movie.

I considered lying and talking about some classic movie like Casablanca but I’d only seen it once and I couldn’t think of a single thing to say about it.  I don't remember what I ended up talking about but it wasn't my best work.

The guy after me ignored the instructions completely and acted out the light saber battle between Luke and Darth Vader, complete with sound effects.  But at least he had conviction.

After we all finished the hiring manager stood up and thanked us.  Then he said something I’ve never forgotten: He said he could make a world class tour guide out of any of us. 

I felt briefly hopeful that he'd fallen asleep during my presention and dreamed I said something interesting.

“But this is a summer job,” he continued, dashing my hopes.  “And we can’t spend the summer training you.  We need people who can jump right in.”

Then he called out the names of the finalists and asked them to stay.  I didn’t get called.   Neither did light saber guy.  The chosen ones - including a tall girl whose favorite movie was allegedly Casablanca - swarmed up to the front while the rest of us slunk out.

In the current job climate, quite a few hiring managers are looking for specialists rather than generalists, which makes a kind of sense.  After all, why hire someone you may need to train when you can hire someone who exactly meets your ideal job profile? 

The problem is, it’s not working very well.  More jobs are posted than are filled and companies are increasingly worried about securing talent to meet their needs.  The entire economy continues to suffer from low hiring levels, despite some economic recovery. 

More to the point, today’s business climate is more dynamic and complex than ever before and companies can’t predict what skills they’ll need tomorrow.

To the extent that business value is created by an engaged, creative, experienced workforce, it makes more sense to look for low-cost ways to help competent people acquire new skills than it does to look for low-cost ways to acquire and discard talent. 

That's why strategic companies are starting to think about learning in terms of a more balanced total rewards package.

As an added bonus, companies that are willing to help people acquire new skills are able to hire for the skills that can’t be taught, such as strategic thinking, project management, creativity, an aptitude for leaning, a can do attitude, etc. 

For more on looking beyond the job profile, I highly recommend Patty Azzarellos’s recent blog post on searching for the right candidate. 

Sometimes you need a specialist – you’re not going to hire a generalist to administer your firewall, for example, or perform surgery on your brain.  But unless the dynamic nature of business changes dramatically...

You will always need people who can work without a script.

Picture courtesy of snagwiremedia.com.

Laura Schroeder is a Compensation Strategist at Workday, headquartered in Pleasanton, CA.  She has nearly fifteen years of experience designing, developing, implementing and evangelizing global Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions and is currently pursuing a certificate in Strategic Human Resources Practices at Cornell University.  Her articles and interviews on HCM topics have been published in the US, Europe and Asia.  She lives in Munich, Germany and enjoys cooking, reading, writing, kick boxing and spending time with friends and family. If you want to read more from Laura, check out her talent management blog Working Girl or follow her on Twitter @WorkGal.

Comments

[Michael Haberman SPHR]

"You will always need people who can work without a script"

Great line Laura, equally as significant as the one you remember from the try out.

I agree with you that the current hiring practice of looking for "Ms. Perfect" is hindering progress.

[Margaret O'Hanlon]

Laura, I think this is one of the best (written) posts we've had on Compensation Cafe. Thanks for sharing your story and making an important point.

[Laura Schroeder]

Thank you, Michael - I admit I didn't appreciate back then what a great learning experience it was.

And Margaret - thanks. :-)

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

Great story, Laura -- agree with Margaret -- very well written.

Embrace your inner Tron (I'm waiting for the sequel myself).

Seriously, there's a terrific object lesson here for all those looking for work. Be real, be honest, be yourself. It telegraphs in your interview, just as it does when you're trying to project something your not but that you *think* they want you to be.

[Laura Schroeder]

Thank you, Derek, I couldn't agree more. Although I still think Casablanca girl was lying through her teeth. ;-)