Are Employers’ Expectations Over-Inflated?

Marcianne Kuethen

July 3, 2012

When I was in high school, as soon as I could drive, I got an after-school job doing clerical work at a staffing company in Fullerton. I already knew how to type and file alphabetically, but the secretaries, Agnes and Ethel, had to train me in how to code resumes, type up candidate cards, and file according to their system. With their expert instruction (and a few macaroon cookies to motivate me!), I hit the ground running in no time.

Today’s business leaders still advise following the model of hiring for attitude and training for skills. But are employers actually doing it? Could the lack of training and development programs be a contributing reason to why unemployment is so high?

Peter Cappelli, Wharton professor and author of Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It, “argues that employers are largely to blame for their hiring troubles, writing job descriptions that include an impossible number of requirements.”

What do you think? Is it possible that your expectations of candidates could be over-inflated? Read the full article here to learn more about what’s causing the skills gap.

Originally published on Inc.com by Leigh Buchanan.