PART 3
How to Avoid Being Screened Out
Long before employers decide which candidate is the best for the job, they focus on who to screen out, who else to screen out, and . . . who else to screen out. So no matter how brilliant you are, if you don’t make the cut, the employer will never know it. We’ve taught you how to prove you can meet the employer’s needs. Now we’ll show you how to avoid getting screened out.
Screen outs are job and company specific, so removing them is not a one-time affair. It must be done whenever you pursue a new job. For example: Your lacking a driver’s license will not concern an employer if he doesn’t need you to drive and the company is located near reliable public transportation. However, if the company is in a remote location or may need you to run errands, it could be a screen out. Having changed fields several times may be perceived by one employer as well rounded and by another as uncommitted. And issues that are overlooked at a lower level may become barriers as you try to advance. Identifying what might concern a prospective employer about you for this job is the first step in eliminating or reducing the barrier.
There are two things that will get you screened out. First, you didn’t prove you meet an employer need from their top ranked areas of PADMAN. (Remember, employers prioritize the six areas of PADMAN differently based on the job, company, and industry goals.) Employers are willing to do some training, but only if you prove you have the core of what they need. Core areas you can’t meet will get you screened out unless you have a solution. Second, you’ll be screened out if you didn’t remove or minimize the unspoken issues that concern the employer. Even if they don’t say it, most employers want employees who bathe regularly, won’t steal or whine, don’t swear at customers, or bring their personal problems to work, and the list goes on. Again, these distractions can come from all areas of PADMAN. If you don’t remove them, a negative key message may develop—He’s the sweaty guy who talked too much and kept name-dropping or She’s the one who kept complaining about her last boss and wouldn’t look me in the eye. To identify these problems, view yourself from the employer’s perspective. Then create a solution, so the focus stays on your talents and you hear, “You’re hired!”
The six solution tools we teach you in the next few chapters are simple, practical ways to honestly eliminate or reduce all the issues that concern employers. In twenty years of successfully helping people avoid getting screened out and land great jobs, we haven’t encountered an issue that can’t be overcome with these six tools (not to be confused with the six areas of PADMAN). Of course, they are not a magic wand that can change your age, create experience you don’t have, remove a disability, or erase criminal history—but they don’t have to. They only need to reduce the sense of risk employers feel, so their focus shifts to what they will gain by hiring you. The key to getting hired is to prove to employers that what they will gain outweighs any risks they are taking.
THE 6 SOLUTION TOOLS1. Learn a New Skill
2. Access a Resource
3. Change Your Job Target
4. Adjust Your Outlook
5. Adjust the Employer’s Perception of You
6. Craft a Good Answer
There is no “one right way” to overcome your screen outs—you always have options. For example, if you lack the appropriate wardrobe, you might access a resource by borrowing or purchasing enough clothing for a week, while someone else might change her job target to match the clothing she currently has. In either case, the employer is never aware that there was a problem. That’s the power of these six tools. When you use them correctly, barriers become nonissues. The only exceptions are barriers that employers will learn about when they interact with you or investigate your past. These require a good answer, and we’ll teach you how to craft them so you reduce the employers’ risk and highlight what they gain.
You will often combine tools to create your best solution. Anna’s driver’s license was revoked because of a DUI. She chose to adjust her outlook to embrace the idea of using public transportation, and target companies located near the bus route, where she could use side doors and résumés, instead of applications that would highlight her DUI. Finally, in case it came up in the interview, Anna crafted a good answer to explain why she couldn’t drive (depending on the situation, she could simply say that she didn’t have a license, didn’t have a car, or was trying to be more “green”). Of course, if the employer asked a direct question about criminal convictions, she had to be honest, but even then her answer did not have to include the words “drunk,” “alcohol,” or “DUI.” You’ll learn more about carefully choosing the language for your good answers in the pages that follow. But for now, let’s start with learning a new skill.