Earlier this week I read a blog post on Medium that I absolutely loved. The writer, Raghav Haran, talked about his experience transitioning from the university world as a student to the professional world as a regular human adult. It’s a transition that many young people struggle to make confidently.
But during his journey, he learned something pretty incredible that many of us who are more experienced could stand to remember (or even internalize for the first time). And that is that, in today’s world of work, it’s really not about what your resume says you can do, it’s about what, in reality, you are prepared and able to do.
He advised candidates not to be discouraged to apply for jobs that, in their description, require more experience than they personally have. It’s a suggestion meant to dissuade a mass of underprepared, unqualified people from applying, thereby making the hiring committee’s job that much more tedious.
What he recommends job seekers do is “do the job before you get the job” by completing a pre-interview project. That is, on your own time, conceptualize and complete a project similar to one you might work on if you were hired at that company. It’s a way to go so above and beyond your potential employer’s expectations that, even if you are unqualified on paper, you’ve shown that in the real world, you can get the job done.
In Workforce 7.0, the rules of what’s expected and what’s accepted are changing. And it’s not just for newly-minted “millennials” that the rules are changing. Workforce 7.0 is a multigenerational workforce where people of all ages are sharing many of the same concerns and opportunities. In many ways, the playing field has leveled and employers are looking for someone to jump out and stand head and shoulders above the rest.
What do you think about Haran’s idea? Have you ever done a pre-interview project? How did the interview go? I’d love to hear your stories so let me know in the comments below.
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photo credit: Looking up the Mersey with the sun bringing the spotlight on the Liverpool Waterfront via photopin (license)
