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You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

talent.works

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Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#91

Post by sleepychu »

elcomet wrote: post #87
carlmr wrote: post #47

I've only once ticked of roughly 95% of job requirements. I didn't get the job. They actually cited the 1/20 requirements I didn't fulfill and said they can't hire anybody who doesn't have that. They wanted a 100% candidate. Looking through the list of the things they listed as must haves and that they wanted an internal candidate I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would even find a better candidate…

Your numbers don't match your %. 20% is 1/5 and 30% is around 1/3. Also I think you can drop the English requirement as most people willing to go to China will speak English (it is certainly not independent). With this corrected, we get around 0.5 which still means it is unlikely they find someone.

What? 1/20 == 5%

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#93

Post by elcomet »

sleepychu wrote: post #91
elcomet wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your numbers don't match your %. 20% is 1/5 and 30% is around 1/3. Also I think you can drop the English requirement as most people willing to go to China will speak English (it is certainly not independent). With this corrected, we get around 0.5 which still means it is unlikely they find someone.

What? 1/20 == 5%

Yes?

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#94

Post by carlmr »

elcomet wrote: post #87
carlmr wrote: post #47

I've only once ticked of roughly 95% of job requirements. I didn't get the job. They actually cited the 1/20 requirements I didn't fulfill and said they can't hire anybody who doesn't have that. They wanted a 100% candidate. Looking through the list of the things they listed as must haves and that they wanted an internal candidate I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would even find a better candidate…

Your numbers don't match your %. 20% is 1/5 and 30% is around 1/3. Also I think you can drop the English requirement as most people willing to go to China will speak English (it is certainly not independent). With this corrected, we get around 0.5 which still means it is unlikely they find someone.

Yeah, good catch, removed that. Doesn't really matter anyway for the point.

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#95

Post by carlmr »

cimmanom wrote: post #88
carlmr wrote: post #47

I've only once ticked of roughly 95% of job requirements. I didn't get the job. They actually cited the 1/20 requirements I didn't fulfill and said they can't hire anybody who doesn't have that. They wanted a 100% candidate. Looking through the list of the things they listed as must haves and that they wanted an internal candidate I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would even find a better candidate…

Or it could be that that was the one criterion that was non-negotiable. Often there are one or two that are "must haves" and the rest are just wants. If you meet the must-haves, you only have to hit a couple of the wants in order to get an interview; but if you miss them, forget it.

Well, there were quite a few of must haves (just by the nature of the position), I already filtered out the ones that were optional before.

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#96

Post by elcomet »

carlmr wrote: post #94
elcomet wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your numbers don't match your %. 20% is 1/5 and 30% is around 1/3. Also I think you can drop the English requirement as most people willing to go to China will speak English (it is certainly not independent). With this corrected, we get around 0.5 which still means it is unlikely they find someone.

Yeah, good catch, removed that. Doesn't really matter anyway for the point.

As a nerd I still enjoyed reading the calculations !

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#97

Post by carlmr »

turingcompeteme wrote: post #84
carlmr wrote: post #47

I've only once ticked of roughly 95% of job requirements. I didn't get the job. They actually cited the 1/20 requirements I didn't fulfill and said they can't hire anybody who doesn't have that. They wanted a 100% candidate. Looking through the list of the things they listed as must haves and that they wanted an internal candidate I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would even find a better candidate…

> I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would find a better candidate So I get where you are coming from, but not having the 1/20 requirement is a much easier excuse than explaining why they don't want someone who thinks it's ok to do this.

I only showed them after they already told me it's a no. I didn't really have a reason to be polite after that. I was just a bit incredulous. The job posting is still open now 1 year later, although they refreshed the date.

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#98

Post by tombert »

Heh, I think most autodidacts have discovered this independently. I'm a Physics-Major dropout, and have managed to find jobs in big brand-name companies that have "strict requirements" for a degree. Now, it's led to a level of imposter syndrome (I've posted about it on HN before), but at the same time, it demonstrates that these "requirements" are more "strong preferences".

Sadly, it does seem like the research-oriented jobs aren't BSing about their requirements; when I've tried to apply to MS Research and the like, they've always declined me due to lack of credentials, since the postings usually require at least a masters, preferably a PhD.

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#99

Post by jkestner »

AnaniasAnanas wrote: post #81
Blackstone4 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are trying to hire at the moment and most of the resume we've received have been from men.... we'd like to interview some women....one of the good resume from a female is missing their email address.... in my book that would have been an automatic no but...since we need female candidates we tried calling them for an interview...

> since we need female candidates May I ask why? Why does it matter if the candidate is male or female? Why not just hire the most fit candidates regardless of their gender and be done with it?

Because that's how you get Apple Health omitting a monthly bodily function that a majority of the population has. Diversity of perspective makes a better product.

Re: You Only Need 50% of Job “Requirements”

#100

Post by dfxm12 »

carlmr wrote: post #47

I've only once ticked of roughly 95% of job requirements. I didn't get the job. They actually cited the 1/20 requirements I didn't fulfill and said they can't hire anybody who doesn't have that. They wanted a 100% candidate. Looking through the list of the things they listed as must haves and that they wanted an internal candidate I showed them it is statistically very unlikely they would even find a better candidate…

They wanted a 100% candidate.

You sure about that? Maybe they wanted an easy way to tell people no. Maybe that 1/20 requirement was very heavily weighted compared to the other 19. Maybe they didn't really want to hire anyone at all or wanted to hire a specific person, but had to make a job posting for political/legal/policy reasons...

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