Why smart people don't get hired

"At the end of the day, smart people looking for a job need to get smarter about how to present themselves!"

Not just smart people, but yes - they do.

I read that article yesterday too. I am not sure I can agree with it completely. Of course, it is a post about someone's opinions. I find a couple of the points to not work together too well. For instance, how can a smart person be too humble, while at the same time preferring to expressing their accomplishments in terms of results. It is tough to be humble, in my opinion, if you are telling others about the results and things you have accomplished. Isn't there at least some level of boasting someone needs to do to get others to see their value?

While I see validity to some of what the author is saying, I am not buying all of it, or even the majority of it. There again, this is my opinion.

I think about my profile often, but I am not sure what needs to be done with it. The only thing I know to do would be to contact a coach to review it and go through it with me to see how to best position myself. Although I am happy with my place of employment, it never hurts to be positioned in such a way that others see potential value. Anyone's perceived value can be ascertained from LinkedIn. After all, more people have seen my LinkedIn profile than have seen my resume.

Let me preface my comments by saying, it was a great piece. Thanks for sharing Wayne. But my comments on the five areas are as follows –

1. Use of standard titles – I agree that standardization helps recruiters. But - in the past year I have interviewed multiple individuals that use standard titles, leading me to believe they are qualified to do all tasks under that generic job umbrella. During the interview I found they only had 50% to 75% of the required experience. Just because you were called AP Coordinator at your old job, may not mean you are truly an AP Coordinator.

2. Profiles too lengthy – I disagree - To get by the key word search used by recruiters, you better add details of past positions, and include key words.

3. Look too narrowly at their experience – Several parts of a job are confidential and should not be discussed in a profile, i.e. coordinated the termination of 800 individuals ensuring no disruption to the core business.

4. Expressing in terms of results – Difficult point – HR wants to know that you have experience; but hiring managers want to know how successful you have been, i.e. “Can he/she do that for me?”

5. Humble – Agree completely. But a CV/Resume is a Marketing piece. What can the purchaser expect to receive if they bought you? If John Deere, P&G, IBM, and Disney are not humble, why should I be?

Again – I think the piece is well written and thought provoking.

The article was so laden with contradictory statements that I couldn't take it seriously at all.

Truly "smart" people avoid those mistakes. Others make them. :)

I think number 3 and 5 in the article are definitely true.

Great article. The theme is knowing how to market oneself. That's all there is to it. Not sure we need all the commentary about "smart people." Some people don't interview very well. Some people don't present their employment-relevant skills concisely in a resume. Get some coaching and read up on how to self-improve in these areas. Best wishes to all!