Beyond Roles and Titles: Matching on What Really Matters
Have you ever been to a dinner party where you don't know many people? An easy conversation starter is asking people what they do for a living. I've told many people that I am a Revenue Operations Insights & Innovation Senior Director. Only a handful had some idea about what that meant.
I quickly had to explain what I actually do – the tasks and problems I solve for the company and why I do that. The title itself was meaningless without context.
The Problem
So in a job market, why are we still so focused on roles and titles? What do they really mean? What you're really looking for are people who can solve specific tasks for the company.
The Job Board Mambojambo
Have you ever tried signing up to a job board to find your dream job? They ask you first what roles you're looking for – and you type in the fancy buzzwords you think will get to the roles you're after:
And then the job board matches you with roles. And you look at the matches and think – How? What? Why?
The Requirements Trap
On all job descriptions, there's no lack of requirements the applicant needs to meet in order to be able to do the job. But is that really true?
A Real Example
You studied 5 instead of 4 years 20 years ago for what the world looked like back then, and therefore you're more qualified than someone who has worked in the field successfully the last 10 years with only a 3-year education?
By focusing on tasks to be solved instead of arbitrary roles/titles and long lists of requirements, we can open up opportunities for better-fit candidates who ended up not applying because they didn't meet all the requirements.
Can This Create More Diversity?
Stop asking for things that don't really matter that much in the end. Can this be a way to get a more diverse workforce? When we remove arbitrary barriers like:
- ✗Specific degree requirements from decades ago
- ✗Exact job title matches
- ✗Years of experience in outdated technologies
- ✗Industry-specific jargon that means different things everywhere
We open doors to talented people who can actually solve the problems you need solved.
The ByeByeApply Approach
At ByeByeApply, we want to remove the role and title mambojambo and match job seekers and future employers based on the tasks that job seekers are great at solving – and they enjoy solving – with future employers who need those tasks solved. With people who truly want to work in that company.
What We Do vs. What We Studied
In a world where things are changing so quickly, how long you studied 10+ years ago – and in some cases even 5 years ago – might be outdated already.
Are we really what we studied, or are we what we do and accomplish?
What Should Matter
- ✓Problems you can solve – not titles you've held
- ✓Tasks you excel at – not degrees from decades ago
- ✓Work style preferences – not arbitrary requirements
- ✓Cultural fit – not keyword matching
- ✓What you've accomplished – not what you studied
Join the conversation: What's the most confusing job title you've encountered? How do you explain what you actually do? Share your thoughts on LinkedIn.
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