There’s some confusion out there in the job world.  Layoffs and shrinking budgets are placing more responsibility on individual employees, and that mentality is also being reflected in requirements for job postings.  While some postings are doing a good job of staying within the realm of requirements that will result in a decent number of qualified candidates, many are stretching the limits to the point where about four people in the entire country match what the company hiring is looking for.  The good news for the company?  Two of those four people are out of work.  The bad news?  None of them will find your job posting without some luck.

Also interesting to note, there seems to be a skills inversion in the job market right now.  You’d think more experienced positions would require a broader range of skills and experience than a more entry-level position.  I’m finding that to not be the case.  Here are two job postings that generally reflect the sort of postings I’m seeing in my job search:

Job 1: Marketing Director

Requirements:
- 10 years marketing experience
- proven team leader
- marketing strategy management

Other than lacking the 10 years experience required, this is the exactly the sort of thing my undergraduate business/marketing degree prepared me for.  We had lots of team-based exercises, most classes focused on theory and strategy, and we were exposed to case studies in successful marketing efforts.

Job 2: Marketing Assistant

Requirements:
- 1-2 years marketing experience
- project management experience
- Experience working with clients and other stakeholders
- experience working as part of a team
- knowledge of web marketing
- MS Office/Adobe Creative Suite Knowledge
- Marketing Material Design Experience
- Knowledge of HTML and website management
- Knowledge of specific industry preferred

Yikes.  This is the sort of thing I’m applying for.  Lucky for me, I’ve dabbled in lots of different things and enjoy technology, the internet, and being creative and artistic from time to time.  However, when you break this position down, it’s pretty demanding.  The marketing experience relates to my degree pretty well.  The degree was also helpful when it comes down to project management and teamwork.  But Adobe Skills and design experience?  That’s more up the alley of a graphic design/advertising major.  And HTML?  Computer science majors might be a better place to look.  Finally, industry-specific experience can completely throw in another curveball.  A position I recently applied for (and am hopefully still in the running for) preferred life sciences experience.  That’s another major to throw in.  So, your ideal candidate for this sort of position has only a couple years of experience, yet also quadruple-majored in four not-so related subjects.

What job #2 is really looking for (whether they know it or not) is a generalist.  I’ve done a decent amount of messing around with HTML, am knowledgeable of Adobe Creative Suite, have a good eye for design, and I’ve got some good experience in things like coordination, planning, and marketing.  But in this job market it’s tough to get your foot in the door when that experience doesn’t show up on a resume under the work experience section.  That’s something I’ve worked on my resume a bit, but it could still be better.  Unfortunately, my business degree itself doesn’t go very far in qualifying for these entry-level positions.

What I really need to do is GET one of these positions, so that I’ll have work experience in the multitude of things required of this sort of position.  Once I’m in a work situation, I’m sure my business school principles will become incredibly valuable.

So, the takeaway:

If you’re looking for a job and you’re in school or recently graduated, first find something you’re passionate about and specialize in it.  But then take it about 15 steps further and have hobbies, side-skills, and random passions unrelated to your degree.  They’ll likely become far more valuable than you realize.

If you’re posting a job looking for an entry-level candidate, just remember that if you ask for a ton of different unrelated skills, you’re going to get a generalist rather than a specialist.  Granted, that’s probably a good thing.  At the same time, those skills you’re looking for can be learned, so I’d suggest boiling the main requirements down to 2-3 primary skills.  From there, a positive attitude, willingness to learn, and intelligence will be much more valuable job skills than the dabbling your candidate may have done in underwater basket weaving while trying to find their way in the professional world.