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. Say
• Highly
educated
• Highly
mo=vated
• Stressed
by
economic
downturn
and
long-‐term
unemployment
• Did
lots
of
research
on
educa=onal
opportuni=es
for
career
change
and
advancement
• Chose
IT
as
it
is
compa=ble
with
his
prior
experience
and
interes=ng
to
him
• Exams
are
expensive,
but
necessary
to
document
new
skills
obtained
at
school
• No
prior
experience
in
IT
Management
specifically
• Difficult
to
document
in
resume
things
that
make
him
a
strong
candidate
for
employment
• No
experience
in
new
career
path,
but
highly
experienced
in
compa=ble
skills
and
abili=es
• Very
personable
• Customer
service
and
sales
experience
make
him
desirable
as
a
manager
or
team
leader,
though
this
usually
goes
to
someone
with
many
years
experience
in
the
field
• Not
technically
an
entry
level
employee
• Older
than
most
candidates
just
star=ng
in
IT
• Age
and
experience
can
be
seen
as
both
posi=ve
and
nega=ve
quali=es
in
a
poten=al
employee
• Difficult
to
provide
applica=ons
or
resumes
that
adequately
describe
his
abili=es,
which
clearly
cast
his
prior
experience
and
investment
in
educa=on
as
posi=ve
career
moves
4. Do
• John
has
completed
his
schooling
and
taken
the
exams.
• He
has
passed
one
and
is
studying
to
re-‐take
the
other
• He
has
researched
poten=al
types
of
employers
who
need
IT
management
on
site
• He
has
updated
and
tweaked
his
resume
numerous
=mes,
but
none
seem
to
adequately
reflect
his
qualifica=ons,
experience
and
educa=on
• He
is
oUen
referred
to
entry
level
posi=ons,
based
on
his
recent
educa=on
in
IT
• He
is
just
as
oUen
referred
to
sales
posi=ons
aUer
applying
for
IT
posi=ons
adver=sed
• He
is
frustrated
that
his
resume
does
not
seem
to
clearly
convey
his
abili=es
and
interests
• He
believes
that
standard
resume
formats
do
not
adequately
describe
applicants
that
have
complementary
experience
to
a
new
career
path
• He
finds
that
his
age
and
high
level
of
educa=on
oUen
exclude
him
from
considera=on
for
entry
level,
or
mid-‐level
posi=ons
5. Think
&
Feel
(Inferences)
• John
wants
a
job
in
his
new
career
path
• He
has
worked
hard
• He
is
smart
and
well-‐educated
• He
ques=ons
the
viability
of
current
resume
styles
to
adequately
describe
certain
types
of
candidates
as
they
can
lead
poten=al
employers
to
make
assump=ons
about
candidates
that
are
faulty
• This
may
be
a
common
problem
for
candidates
with
similar
backgrounds
and
experience
• Many
qualified
candidates
may
be
excluded
unnecessarily
due
to
faulty
assump=ons
• John
feels
frustrated
• Resumes
some=mes
create
problems
due
to
inadequate
or
uninten=onally
misleading
content
• Many,
many
job
candidates
probably
encounter
this
problem
• Employers
are
stymied
by
current
resume
and
applica=on
standards
• Employers
u=lize
problema=c
methods
for
selec=ng
viable
candidates
• Online
applica=ons
and
resume
submissions
have
created
more
problems
than
are
solved
• Strong
candidates
are
oUen
excluded
due
to
faulty
screening
methods
of
employers
6. Problem
Statement
Older
students
who
return
to
school,
either
to
enhance
skills
or
to
shiU
career
path
or
profession,
are
oUen
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.
7. Insights
• The
current
economy
has
created
a
dearth
of
good
jobs
• There
are
many
highly-‐skilled
and
experienced
workers
who
have
found
it
necessary
to
go
back
to
school
to
enhance
their
educa=on,
or
to
shiU
career
paths
• Employers
have
difficulty
adequately
assessing
these
candidates
because
they
do
not
neatly
fit
into
job
descrip=on
qualifica=ons,
or
garner
enough
hits
with
key
word
search
employment
screening
soUware,
which
is
oUen
the
first
line
of
exclusion
for
candidates
• These
candidates
can
be
doubly
excluded,
par=cularly
for
entry
and
mid-‐level
posi=ons,
for
appearing
“too
experienced”
even
though
they
may
be
just
star=ng
out
in
their
new
chosen
field
• Employers
oUen
complain
that
they
can
not
find
adequately
qualified
candidates
for
their
openings,
but
this
seems
contrary
to
repor=ng
from
candidates
themselves
8. Insights
(continued)
• State
unemployment
benefits
oUen
require
recipients
apply
for
a
specific
number
of
jobs
per
week
to
con=nue
to
qualify
for
UI.
This
causes
an
overflow
of
applica=ons
for
many
entry
and
mid-‐level
jobs
from
candidates
who
do
not
have
adequate
qualifica=ons,
but
must
apply
for
anything
to
sa=sfy
state
requirements
• Key
word
search
employment
soUware
is
rarely
adequate
to
assess
resumes
and
applica=ons,
but
is
currently
the
most
common
way
of
assessing
candidates
ini=ally
for
professional
or
semi-‐professional
posi=ons
• Standard
resume
formats
are
oUen
difficult
to
assess
when
candidates
have
mul=ple
educa=onal
creden=als
and/or
career
paths
• When
a
person
pursues
further
educa=on
to
change
or
enhance
their
career
path,
they
are
oUen
penalized
for
inconsistency,
rather
than
for
seeking
more
viable
op=ons
in
the
down
economy
