This is a serious question!
The national unemployment figure is a bit fuzzy. What the number actually is depends on the source one goes to in order to get the number.
Supply And Demand Reality
One thing that is certain is that the job market of 2015 does not look like the job market of 2009. At this moment, Cybersecurity, Risk, Compliance, Privacy and Information Technology professionals who are great at what they do are generally gainfully employed. There is no shortage of demand for Information Security / Cybersecurity skill sets in the private and government sectors of employment.
Yes, there are exceptions to this idea that there is full employment for technology professionals but even when a talented technology professional is not employed, they don’t stay unemployed very long if they really want a job, if they have done a good job of managing their career and if they have a strong resume to share with the marketplace.
The Market Has Changed
Despite the fact that the 2015 job market for technology professionals does not resemble the recession plagued job market of 2009, many employers are still treating job candidates as if there is an endless supply of job candidates.
Many companies are sitting on talented candidate’s resumes for months. Even after successful interviews and promises of a job offer, job candidates are frequently still sitting for weeks waiting for corporate processes to produce a job offer.
Check Box Hiring
Many employers are still hiring by check box. These employers create job descriptions that ask for 3 years of this, 5 years of that, 2 years of something else, a certain educational background, a certain certification and so on. If job candidates do not match up to the laundry list of “we want”, “we need”, “we expect” (repeated 3 times), they are eliminated by gate keepers and never get to the interview playing field.
Time for Change
When demand for job candidates is high and supply of qualified job candidates lags behind demand, it is time for employers to learn how to hire talent and capability and not just hire by check box.
Employers need to learn how to sell their jobs. Employers need to write job descriptions that not only ask for what they need; job descriptions need to clearly let gainfully employed job candidates know what’s in it for them to leave the comfort and known risk of their current role to take on the potential high risk of a new role in a new company with a new manager.
Sure, every position has a certain level of skill and competency that someone needs to walk in the door to satisfy. However, when filling technology positions, leaders will build much stronger teams if they concentrate on hiring people who bring enough of the skill they need today while giving the job candidate room to stretch and grow.
If a job candidate brings everything to the table that an employer wants and needs, why would they leave the comfort of their current role to take on the risk of a new role if there is nothing more than money in the new role for the job candidate to gain?
It is critical to hire people who can not only perform today’s job; a hiring strategy must consider job candidates who have the capability to learn and grow in line with a company’s plans to innovate and advance if employers want to attract and retain the industry’s top talent.
