Hire Outside the Lines

If These Heels Could Talk

Read any professional job description and it will describe a linear path toward the open position: this degree, this many years of experience, and this background. And in the next sentence, the job description will talk about initiative (self-starter!) and drive to succeed. It will describe a company that values resilience and being open to change.

In short, the job description will ask for a background based on skills and experience as well as characteristics that are largely learned by those who never seem to have the right background for their goals. People with the audacity to dream of something bigger for themselves and others. These are scrappers. People who didn’t come from the ‘right’ background but succeeded in their goals anyway.

Listen in as Michelle and JoyGenea discuss how to find scrappers in your resume stack. How to look beyond the GPA and course list and see character instead of qualifications. How to see commonly held hiring ‘red flags’ as opportunities and interview people anyway. A few gaps in employment or many companies in a short time frame could be a problem. Or it could be a single parent who had jobs that couldn’t accommodate flexibility in schedules. No extracurricular activities in school? Could be disengaged. Or could be working full-time to keep up with family medical bills. You’ll never know if your HR software automatically discards those resumes.