Providing Solutions Is How You Turn on Employers
A commodity is something physical or a service that can be bought and sold. All commodities exist to solve a problem. For example, apples — a raw agricultural commodity — are a solution to solving your hunger, as are all food commodities.
As a job seeker, you’re offering employers your labour power, a commodity, in exchange for a wage. Consequently, at the risk of offending sensibilities, you’re seeking to serve as a commodity to employers.
Demand and supply determine the price of a commodity. Whether employers are willing to engage with job seekers to buy their labour power (read: solution) depends on the number of applicants versus the demand for their labour.
The current job market is an employer’s market. I’d argue that since employers create the paycheques, it’s always an employer’s market; it’s just more pronounced nowadays. You may have heard the proverb, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.”
Nowadays, the job market is flooded with job seekers. Hence, employers are more selective and will wait for the right candidate, not hire a candidate who “will do.”
Harsh truth: Employers no longer consider a candidate’s potential. You’re either precisely what the employer wants, or you’re not.
Despite the job market being flooded with candidates, one thing remains the same for every employer: problems (aka, ongoing challenges). Employers are constantly searching for candidates who’ll solve their problems — problem, meet solution — whether it’s having minimal IT infrastructure downtown time, increasing revenue, improving safety, increasing production efficiency, increasing brand awareness, breaking into new markets or increasing customer retention.
I’d argue that our economy, driven more by the level of confidence than statistics and data points, has an unstable feel, thanks to the media playing up the fear of a recession, daily headlines announcing layoffs, geo-political skirmishes that have the potential to escalate, and red-hot inflation. This feeling of instability is motivating employers to look for candidates who can help them navigate what “might be” turbulent economic times.
A professional salesperson understands the fundamental principle of sales: Features tell, benefits sell. Employers aren’t looking for skills or experience (features); they’re looking for results (benefits).
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” — Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School Professor.
Employers are looking for candidates who offer “bundles of benefits.” Therefore, differentiate yourself from your competition by not focusing on your skills and experience but on the employer’s problems that the position you’re applying for exists to solve. Don’t let your ego prevent you from considering yourself as a commodity that can solve problems for employers.
The next time you read a job posting, visualize the employer saying, “I (we) need help!” Then, think of how you can demonstrate to the employer the impact — solutions you’d provided — you can make on their business. This is how you turn on employers!
When I’m interviewing, I think of myself as someone aiding my interviewer in understanding what type of employee I am, which is different than what type of person I am and what problems I solve. Although I know my interviewer is interested in learning about me, they’re more interested in what I can do for them; therefore, I focus on this. For this reason, hiring managers ask problem-solving questions, such as “Tell me about a time you had to handle an upset customer or client” or “Tell me about a time you had to meet a project deadline and one of your team members called in sick.”
By focusing on the employer’s problems and challenges, you’re tapping into the fastest and most effective way to connect with someone, empathizing with their situation. In a previous column, I recommended job seekers adopt a networking hack by asking themselves when meeting someone for the first time, “How can I help this person?” Ask yourself this question during your next interview and see how it changes the conversation.
Ask your interviewer questions along the lines of:
- “Your job posting mentions “build and maintain strong relationships with clients and vendors to ensure positive reviews.” What are your reviews like? Are you happy with your reviews?”
- “I understand this position is a backfill. Is there anything you would like the person filling the position to do that the previous person wasn’t doing?”
- “Twice this week, I called your help desk. I found the average time to answer to be high. Are you satisfied with your call center’s productivity stats? Which do you feel needs improvement?”
- My favourite: “What’s the number one problem I can solve in my first 30 days?”
Asking questions that focus on the employer demonstrates your desire to use your skills and experience to help the employer resolve their problem, which’ll greatly endear you to your interviewer.
NOTE: To “turn on” your interviewer, you must offer yourself as the solution, not merely ask questions and nod when answered.
Companies will always have problems to solve regardless of the economy — more so in a bad economy. Therefore, start offering yourself as a solution! Does your LinkedIn profile and resume clearly describe your problem-solving skills? When interviewing, do you present yourself as someone who can alleviate the employers’ pain points?
