2. Interview
Subject
“John”
John
is
a
man
in
his
mid-‐
for=es;
he
has
two
degrees,
Business
and
Economics,
but
has
been
out
of
work
in
the
field
of
Customer
Service
and
Sales
for
over
two
years.
He
returned
to
school
to
get
IT
cer=fica=ons,
with
the
hope
that
his
prior
experience
will
help
him
find
a
posi=on
in
his
new
career
path
in
IT
maintenance
and
management.
3. Problem
Statement
Older
students
who
return
to
school,
either
to
enhance
skills
or
to
shiN
career
path
or
profession,
are
oNen
excluded
as
viable
job
candidates
by
poten=al
employers
because
their
skills
and
experience
do
not
fit
neatly
into
current
assessment
standards
u=lized
by
employers
to
iden=fy
those
they
would
deem
to
have
the
appropriate
skills
necessary
to
fill
their
open
posi=ons.
4. Idea
Selection
1. Standardiza+on
of
Terms
and
Descrip+ons—Standard
Skills
Taxonomies
Rather
than
try
to
implement
a
Na=onal
(or
Global)
database
for
employment,
it
might
be
more
effec=ve
to
establish
and
delegate
(possibly
legislate?)
specific
terminology
for
use
in
both
Employment
Pos=ngs
and
Job
Descrip=ons.
This
will
help
both
employers
and
job
seekers
speak
a
common
language
and
eradicate
some
of
the
opaqueness
inherent
in
Key
Word
Search
algorithms
and
other
screening
methods
being
u=lized
today
to
screen
candidates.
2. Employer
Sponsorship
of
Long-‐Term
Unemployed
for
Career
Change
Educa=on
to
fill
needed
posi=ons
requiring
similar
skills
and
experience
Employers
with
specific
needs
could
pre-‐employ
and
sponsor
job
candidates
with
similar
skills
and
experience
and
allow
them
=me
and
scholarship
opportuni=es
to
train
for
the
posi=ons
most
needing
to
be
filled
by
the
employer.
Students
already
in
school
could
also
take
advantage
of
the
pre-‐employment
scheme
by
applying
for
posi=ons
which
would
be
wai=ng
for
them
when
they
graduate.
3. Disrupt
the
“Perfect
Candidate”
Scenario
Employers
have
become
obsessed
with
finding
the
perfect
candidate
for
every
posi=on.
They
want
someone
who
has
done
the
exact
job
before,
and
generally
want
to
pay
less
and
extract
more
=me
and
effort
from
the
worker.
This
has
become
more
and
more
difficult
and
is
especially
challenging
for
older
students
making
a
career
change
and
devo=ng
=me
and
money
to
educa=on
and
skills
training
in
their
area
of
interest.
These
students
may
be
entry
level
in
their
new
chosen
field,
but
bring
great
experience
and
skill,
oNen
in
highly
compa=ble
ways.
Finding
ways
to
reposi=on
these
students
as
having
great
poten&al
for
being
a
perfect
match
would
be
a
game
changer.
5. Idea
I
Disrupt
the
“Perfect
Candidate”
Scenario
Employers
have
become
obsessed
with
finding
the
perfect
candidate
for
every
posi=on.
They
want
someone
who
has
done
the
exact
job
before,
and
generally
want
to
pay
less
and
extract
more
=me
and
effort
from
the
worker.
This
has
become
more
and
more
difficult
and
is
especially
challenging
for
older
students
making
a
career
change
and
devo=ng
=me
and
money
to
educa=on
and
skills
training
in
their
area
of
interest.
These
students
may
be
entry
level
in
their
new
chosen
field,
but
bring
great
experience
and
skill,
oNen
in
highly
compa=ble
ways.
Finding
ways
to
reposi=on
these
students
as
having
great
poten&al
for
being
a
perfect
match
would
be
a
game
changer
“…poten+al
is
the
capability
of
employing
the
skill
set,
as
well
as
the
ability
to
adapt
to
situa=ons
that
call
on
more
than
just
experience.”
hbp://info.fpcna=onal.com/talentmabers/bid/165679/Poten=al-‐Find-‐the-‐Best-‐Job-‐Candidate-‐Not-‐the-‐Most-‐
Experienced
As
hiring
becomes
less
open
and
employers
rely
on
increasingly
exclusionary
and
limi=ng
processes
in
hiring,
candidates
must
find
ways
to
open
doors
in
ways
that
may
be
disrup=ve
to
that
process
and
to
the
employers
themselves.
In
many
ways,
this
may
be
the
best
way
for
candidates
to
demonstrate
their
poten=al…
by
breaking
the
system
and
rebuilding
the
job
search
process
from
the
ground
up.
6. Prototype
I:
Design
Fiction
Design
Fic+on
as
Resume
&
Applica+on
• As
employers
become
more
exclusionary,
job
seekers
and
candidates
must
find
ways
to
disrupt
the
system
in
their
favor.
• Employers
will
not
be
open
to
changing
their
“tried
and
true”
decision-‐making
processes
even
if
they
have
proven
to
be
flawed
or
faulty
• Most
hiring
decisions
are
made
based
on
proof
of
experience
and
arbitrary
educa=onal
and
skills
tes=ng
that
is
oNen
counter
indica=ve
of
genuine
fitness
for
a
posi=on
• Candidates
must
find
ways
to
exhibit
their
value
and
poten+al
to
prospec=ve
employers
• Design
Fic+on
could
be
a
posi=ve
maneuver
for
candidates
with
non-‐tradi=onal
educa=on
and
experience
• Design
Fic=on
offers
candidates
an
opportunity
to
express
their
interest
and
capabili=es
in
a
disrup=ve
way
• It
is
important
that
candidates
do
not
take
on
provisional
or
“trial”
work
for
a
specific
poten=al
employer,
but
rather
he
or
she
produces
a
fic=onal
work
product
that
will
demonstrate
their
capabili=es
for
all
poten=al
employers.
• This
is
not
school
work
or
assignments,
but
rather,
a
product
or
idea
that
best
represents
the
candidate
and
his
or
her
most
valuable
assets,
skills,
experience
and
poten=al,
a
produc=zed
resume
so
to
speak
7. 1. Candidate
chooses
a
framework
and
job
descrip=on
that
describes
his
or
her
best
case
scenario
posi=on.
This
could
be
a
specific
project,
or
a
more
overall
day-‐to-‐day
work
situa=on.
2. Candidates
should
be
precise
and
clear,
but
their
descrip=on
and
method
of
depic=on
should
be
complimentary
to
their
profession,
e.g.
a
prospec=ve
IT
manager
might
describe
implemen=ng
a
company-‐wide
hardware
and
soNware
package
upgrade,
and
include
cost
comparison
spreadsheets,
Project
Plan
document,
rollout
calendar,
employee
no=fica=ons
and
messaging
strategy,
mee=ng
agendas
and
PowerPoint
presenta=ons,
budge=ng,
etc.
3. This
should
be
packaged
and
presented
as
beau=fully
and
completely
as
possible
in
whatever
format
best
suits
the
project
presenta=on
and
industry
standards
4. Candidate
can
submit
this
Design
Fic=on
project
as
proof
of
poten=al
and
fitness
as
a
compe==ve
candidate
for
posi=ons
in
which
he
or
she
is
interested.
Test
I:
Design
Fiction
8. Idea
II
Standardiza+on
of
Terms
and
Descrip+ons—Standard
Skills
Taxonomies
Rather
than
try
to
implement
a
Na=onal
(or
Global)
database
for
employment,
it
might
be
more
effec=ve
to
establish
and
delegate
(possibly
legislate?)
specific
terminology
for
use
in
both
Employment
Pos=ngs
and
Job
Descrip=ons.
This
will
help
both
employers
and
job
seekers
speak
a
common
language
and
eradicate
some
of
the
opaqueness
inherent
in
Key
Word
Search
algorithms
and
other
screening
methods
being
u=lized
today
to
screen
candidates.
Taxonomy
is
defined
as
(1)
Division
into
ordered
groups
or
categories
and
(2)
The
classifica=on,
or
categoriza=on,
of
things.
hbp://www.innomet.ee/innomet/Reports/Report_WP1.pdf
Many
educa=onal
systems
have
abempted
to
categorize
and
establish
equivalences
in
educa=on
and
skills
learning,
par=cularly
for
technical
and
trades
educa=on.
This
process
should
be
brought
forward
into
the
employment
arena
so
that
applicants
can
be
assessed
on
an
even
set
of
criteria
and
creden=als,
even
though
length
of
educa=on,
curriculum
and
course
credit
vary
from
school
to
school,
state
to
state
and
country
to
country.
It
will
also
be
important
to
give
adequate
credit
for
on-‐the-‐job
training,
con=nuing
educa=on
and
licensure
as
well
as
past
work
experience
and
general
intelligence,
which
may
not
be
cer=fied,
but
is
nonetheless
valuable
and
documentable.
9. Prototype
II:
Taxonomy
Skills
&
Experience
Taxonomy
Test
for
Applicants
1. Candidates
are
given
a
skill
or
process
and
are
asked
to
create
a
list
of
words
or
phrases
that
describe
that
skill/process,
or
the
abili=es
necessary
to
do
them.
There
may
be
only
one
descriptor
for
the
job,
or
there
could
be
several
of
these
ques=ons,
depending
on
the
complexity
and
level
of
the
posi=on.
They
could
be
broad,
or
very
specific.
2. Candidates
may
describe
the
skill/process
as
their
experience
informs
them
are
the
necessary
components,
or
they
may
use
their
educa=on,
intui=ve
skills
or
imagina=on
as
to
how
best
that
skill/process
would
be
performed.
This
could
be
further
assessed
as
to
whether
the
answers
address
the
work
adequately,
or
excep=onally.
3. Employers
will
compare
their
list
(which
is
blind
to
the
candidate)
to
see
how
well
the
candidate
understands
the
skill/process
and
if
it
is
compa=ble
with
how
the
employer
expects
the
candidate
to
understand
and
perform
the
work.
4. Candidates
can
be
given
addi=onal
points
for
intui=ve
or
innova=ve
answers,
or
for
thinking
beyond
the
scope
of
the
skill/process
as
required
by
the
employer.
5. Candidates
could
then
be
assessed
on
their
ability
to
understand
and
adequately
(or
excep=onally)
do
the
work
necessary
for
the
posi=on,
even
though
they
may
not
have
the
exact
educa=on,
experience,
training
or
cer=fica=on
the
employer
would
normally
expect
a
preferred
candidate
to
have.
11. Re@lection
&
Next
Steps
• Overall
response
to
both
Prototypes
was
posi=ve
• The
“squishiness”
of
the
Design
Fic=on
prototype
was
less
meaningful
to
the
interview
subject
but
he
could
see
the
poten=al
value
in
exploring
the
op=on
further
• I
think
it
would
be
fairly
easy
to
push
the
Taxonomy
prototype
to
a
next
step
with
further
development,
poten=ally
a
simple
app
or
online
form
add-‐on,
easily
adaptable
to
many
industries
• There
is
an
overall
=midity
with
candidates
who
don’t
want
to
rock
the
boat,
but
strong
feeling
that
employment
opportuni=es
in
the
current
economy
will
con=nue
to
be
fraught
with
difficulty
and
roadblocks
• Interviewees
assume
they
will
be
the
ones
to
make
changes
to
accommodate
employers
needs,
never
the
other
way
around,
and
they
are
not
convinced
that
employers
will
ever
admit
that
their
methods
may
be
crea=ng
more
problems
than
they
solve.
