Transferable Skills

Hi Recruiters,

Hiring is rarely even across industries and does not always follow sector profitability — especially when cost-cutting reigns supreme as the current soup de jour strategy for companies to boost margins.

Thus, recruiting and TA pros shouldn’t follow the money per se, they should follow growth.

Right now, it’s not white-collar jobs that are growing.

In fact, hiring in white-collar industries is moving at only one-third the pace of the overall labor market, with data showing the number of listings for roles in industries like banking and finance, media and communications, and software development are all running below the levels seen in February 2020, immediately before the start of the pandemic.

It seems the current economic recovery in the US, marked by slowing inflation, a healthy labor market with record-low unemployment, and stocks that remain in a bull market, is K-shaped — a rising tide lifting some boats.

Sometimes, the conditions for a rosey, linear career path in the same industry are just not right.

In those moments, the ability to ask yourself, “Which side of growth do I want to be on?” can be the difference between job security and career stagnation (or decline).

Concentrated Growth

The reality of the labor market, as Mallory Vachon, PhD recently shared with us, is that despite the hoopla about economic strength, job growth at the moment is largely coming from three industries: Government, leisure and hospitality, and healthcare.

Moreover, it’s likely that we’ll see healthcare continue to grow as a percentage of all hiring due to increases in demand that come with an aging population.

As Mallory shared in a blog post, these three are beacons of stability, offering potential avenues for career transitions or strategic industry shifts. The insights exemplify the value in her wisdom of “staying attuned to industry dynamics.”

Doing so is how you determine where there’s room to grow. 

Identity Crisis

Because the truth is career trajectories are rarely a straight line from start to finish. I think this is something we all know and expect when we’re young but conveniently forget after we’ve gained some experience and mastery in a specific domain.

After all, it takes a lot of time and grit to arrive at a place (or industry or role) where you feel like you know a thing or two about a thing or two. And It’s hard to give that up. For one, it requires vulnerability. But I think it’s often the challenge to one’s professional identity that is at the bottom of a resistance to change.

What else could you possibly be if you’ve called yourself a “Tech Recruiter” for the last ten years?

Who else?

Dare to Pivot

I imagine David Schultz might answer that question to say, “You are your skills.” He’s an excellent example of that.

Once a tech recruiter at Meta, specializing in hiring talent in machine learning and software engineering, David was able to pivot a layoff into staffing for blue-collar workers in the trucking and sales industry.

Key to David’s adaptability is the truth in his message “The principles and habits of recruiting are universal.” With skills-based hiring on the rise, that truth may provide more opportunities to transfer skills to a new industry or role than ever — although that’s nothing entirely new. 

It’s worth noting that before tech, David was recruiting salespeople. Before that, he was managing sales teams. Talk about proof points.

Another great example comes from our very own Daniel Harten . Also a former recruiter at Meta (and Amazon), Dan parlayed his being laid off into a transition from recruiting to marketing.

Before landing the marketing gig, Dan started marketing himself by creating a personal recruiting podcast and getting involved in the community. That podcast is now our ongoing SpeakEZ series.

Dan didn’t change industries, but he leveraged his experience to jump into a new type of role where it could give him a big leg up. He found an opportunity to transfer his relevant skills.

Fish Where There Are Fish

If there’s anything to have faith in, it’s your skills. If you’re not sure what your skills are or where they can take you, reach out to the community — I guarantee someone is willing to help you shape your story for its next chapter.

And that doesn’t mean everyone should be eyeballing a new industry. Some people are well-positioned where they are at, even if it means waiting out a downturn.

But if you’re feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, it might be time to ask, “Which side of growth do I want to be on?”

Charlie Munger was the Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, a fairly successful company. Charlie often cited the two rules of fishing as the rules of success.

1. Fish where there are fish
2. Remember the first rule.

Good advice.

What else is happening in hiring?

• U.S. Job Growth Slowed in April
• What Hiring Managers Want Now by Jena McGregor
• United Air Hits Pause on Pilot Hiring

Aaron’s Corner

Aaron Ibañez here! Shannon Pritchett, Kunwar Ishan Sharma, and Steven Jiang are at UNLEASH AMERICA this week spreading the word about our next-gen recruitment CRM platform (finally) built for recruiters by recruiters.

From a book signing with Carmen Hudson, CSM to a case study about How WilsonHCG 's Outbound Recruiting Strategy Tripled Candidate Response Rates and Reduced Tool Spend with Gregory McKeown, we can't wait to hear about all the insights they've gained this week!

If you're at UNLEASH America, stop by Booth 652 and say hi!

— Recruiters