THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB!

There was a time when the best person for the job, would actually get the job. 

When companies worked with recruiters, who would scour their networks, gain referrals and even post the odd advert on the job boards but they would be constantly searching for those topflight individuals and adding them to their database. Typically, they already had a bunch of exceptional people that they had spoken with, interviewed and had a track record of where they had worked and what they had accomplished in some of their earlier roles.

Those days are sadly long gone I believe.

What is happening these days (2024 & 2025) with clients attempting to do the work of recruiters is they are starting each job search from scratch and only using job boards to find the people they are seeking.  And even if they were lucky enough to get an application from a top-flight candidate they would not even know as they are totally unaware of it.

When a client posts a job on the job boards, they may get 300, 400 or even 600 applicants, the client does not have time to read or even screen these applications or read the CV or Resumes> They simply drop them into the ATS system or into an AI engine and ask questions of these systems to provide a suitable short-list based on a set criteria they are seeking. They are relying on these systems to screen applicants CV or Resumes, systems which automatically disregard the cover letters you spent hours crafting with the right information on.  They are looking at the documents largely based on the number of times you mentioned a specific skill and those with the highest number of hits get onto the short-list. It’s not particularly scientific but that’s generally how they select people and provide a short-list of candidates.

Unfortunately, they disregard your competency, your achievements and the longevity in a role that you have been successful in and no one is actually going to read your CV or Resume unless you get on the short-list.  It’s now a process and at best its blind, something like trying to ‘stick a tail on the picture of the donkey with a blindfold on’. Clients may think they are being clever by actually sending out innocuous rejection emails “thank you for your details but we are not interested in your experience”, especially when the candidate knows they are ‘the best person for the job’.

Candidates are crying out for human contact, actually being spoken to, having a two way conversation and considered by a real person, but this takes effort and someone’s time.

I was actually called back in October by SARAH. She introduced herself and stated that she was an AI BOT and would like to ask me some questions with an aim of helping me find a role.  She was very nice, courteous, well spoken and the script made sense, but 90 seconds in, my utter repulsion & disengagement of speaking to this AI bot called SARAH hit an all-out high of disgust. After I put the phone down on her (IT) I contemplated where this was all going and leading, was AI as many doubters had said going to take all our jobs? AI has learned some clever tricks and is seeping into our psyche and becoming acceptable to many people (or not). We are people at the end of the day and want to be treated with respect by other people not glorified ‘Cash Registers’.

So, is it now just about using AI to combat this process and “fighting fire with fire” if we all start and end up using AI to win and get the job will clients end up with “the best person for the job” just because they know how to use AI better than everyone else to get the job?

We need to get back to basics, create a company structure and a company culture that people actually want to work within. A culture that recognizes and values people as individuals bring to the table and not machines to be fixed and improved when they don’t deliver as they should. People are fallible, they make mistakes and don’t always fire on all 12 cylinders, why, because life gets in the way and it should, it is what makes us so damn good at the jobs we do, but we also drop the ball occasionally. Getting someone with the right skills and experience is one thing but getting the right behaviour and personality is the key to finding ‘the best person for the job’

                About the Author

Howard Longstaff has over 30 years of experience delivering people within the talent acquisition arena, working extensively across the UK, Europe, USA, and Canada. Specialising in building ‘Sales Teams’, and back filling roles in the Leadership Team, (the C-Suite), helping to get the balance right.

‘Getting it right first time’ is never easy, Howard is one of the few executive search consultants who is willing to guarantee the work he does, offering a 12-month free replacement. ‘No one is perfect, but a team can be’, working with SaaS startups, SEM’s and Mid-Market clients who are scaling up, working on an exclusive or retained basis.

Repeatedly building teams across three continents, he has a good breadth of knowledge across the talent acquisition and enterprise software arenas.

Over the last 20 years he has also coached 1000’s of people, staff, clients and candidates, either career coaching or general life coaching. Now as a ‘Full-Stack People Consultant he spends most of his time coaching and placing people.

howard@william-howard.com  +44 (0) 7710 907 988