Creative Hiring Finds Great People

They don’t put people like me in job descriptions.

I’ve been looking for a job for 2 years. Why? Consulting is my first choice, but unless I’m hired for a project that needs an overachiever, I don’t grow.

I’m like a big oak tree. Well established and rooted in the earth, respected, and even admired. My roots reach out to other trees in support of their growth. It’s always been how I work. I see the sky up there and reach for it.

I like to work with people who see it too.

The reasons for not hiring me are as follows:

• I’m not a developer.
• I’m too experienced or not experienced enough.
• I’m more experienced than the person I would be working under.
• I’m too old.
• I must work from home.
• They say they can’t afford me.

Hiring me isn’t easy.

With me, it takes more time to understand the person. If I even bothered to inquire with your company, that means I read about you first and thought a great deal about whether I would return to corporate life.

If I see potential with your company, I put in a toe to see if I get a response.

In nearly every attempt, there is silence. Nothing. I’ve come close to giving up. There’s an awful thought that I’m not needed anywhere jabbing me in the sides.

So, let’s see what you’re missing.

1. I’m not a developer. However, as an auditor, I need to know your code. If your code breaks something for one of my clients, I’m the type who wants to learn why. In my off hours I’m always studying something new.
2. Am I too experienced? Not at all. With usability, accessibility and digital marketing, there is no end to what we need to do and no end to expanding our knowledge. No end. I’m the type who wants to sit and talk with people from other departments and invite them to teach me something from their world. It makes my work better.
3. I’m more experienced than the person hiring me. This one has always proven to be false. When I see what you can do, I admire your expertise. I don’t have an ego. I’m not a threat.
4. I’m not too old to work. For accessibility work, my poor eyesight has always been an asset.
5. Remote work is my choice because I’m planted in the country where commuting takes up 4 hours a day. And, I have horses here and a well-equipped office.
6. The idea that I’m not affordable means two things. The HR person never bothered to ask. I have a lab here. I don’t need health insurance because that’s already taken care of. You don’t need to buy me anything to do the job other than possibly your preferred software if I don’t already have it. I have never in my career charged what I’m worth.

Creative Combination

I often wonder if there are other people like me out there who are not hired because they appear to be “too much”. After all, I’ve been on this web sailboat since 1995.

My career straddles 3 industries. The last one, accessibility, is an elite walled city. Every attempt to be hired for a role in accessibility has been met with silence or in 3 instances, at least a reason, which appears on my list.

I look at my long resume, short resume and professional CV and see a human Christmas tree with far too much going on, but the blinking lights are kind of cool.

There may be no way to stick me into a role you think you need.

With a background in SEO, community ownership, human factors and usability, conversions, IA, web design, and accessibility, I’m a combo person.

I’m that person you plant in the ground who enthusiastically explores what’s out there and why.

They don’t put people like me in job descriptions.

You can.