Post 4:
The company is looking for skills to fill a gap.
Often companies look for staff to close a particular gap that has been left by the departure of another employee. However, a perfect fit is not always possible. More often than one might think, those looking to fill a position forget that the job description was probably defined quite a while ago and that the profile has changed over the years. This also applies for the former employee as well as the market, the sector and the competition. In the age of big data, robotics and artificial intelligence, the probability is very high that the required skills are significantly different than those provided by the previous employee.
So it would be useful to check what competencies you actually need. But what usually happens? The job description of the predecessor is used to find the new employee. However, it would probably be better and more motivating for all involved to first define what skills are actually missing in the group, team, or department. Particularly in long-established companies, it often shows that the required competencies have changed or the supposedly missing skills are already available through existing staff. Why should they not utilize their full potential? The inclusion of current employees for the recruitment of new staff also has the advantage that these often actively ask their friends and acquaintances to see if they can recommend people to fill the gap.
If the required core competencies really are the ones stated in the job description, it often helps to ask whether the rest of the job posting also has to be 100 percent fulfilled. Good candidates are frequently sorted out too quickly as they do not cover a few important skills. However, I believe it makes more sense to check in how far these missing skills can be covered by other means. Because, ultimately it makes no difference who exactly carries out certain activities. All that’s important is that everything gets done and the team runs smoothly.
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