Employers Want Problem Solvers

{Click here to read the original article on Careerrocketeer.}

President Obama recently walked across the street from the White House to visit with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is hard to believe they are that close to each other physically but couldn’t be farther apart philosophically.

The President basically told business you need to let loose of the trillions of dollars you are sitting on to help create a “virtuous cycle” of more sales, higher demand and greater profits that will put people back to work. The President pledged to eliminate unneeded regulations and simplify the tax code, but said companies had responsibilities to help the economy recover. (Source: New York Times Online)

What exactly does that mean for a person seeking employment? Do you simply march into an employer and tell them you know they have money and they need to hire you? The answer is YES, but not because it is their American duty or they are sitting on piles of cash. That makes for a good speech, but there are plenty of businesses still suffering. The President’s comment is the chicken or the egg, which comes first, hiring people or customers. Employers hire when they have a need or a problem they can’t solve. That is where you come in. You are the problem solver they need.

The trouble many have with job search is they are looking for jobs. They read a job posting, check the qualifications, and then apply. What they should do is read between the lines of the job posting, determine the problem, and then tell people how you can solve it. Investigate why the job is open. Oh, so and so left and we are filling the job. What did so and so do that was so important they needed to be replaced. That’s easy, they were a financial analyst, account representative, a nurse, a teacher, a plumber, a receptionist, etc. No, that was their title, what problem were they helping solve.

Google just announced they were going to hire 6,000 people in 2011. They received 75,000 applications in one week without the applicants knowing what jobs were available. How many of those applications were from people looking to solve a problem or simply I am smart hire me? I know Google recruits only smart people. Guess what, so does everyone else. Smart is not enough of a differentiator, it is what you do with your smarts.