When candidates apply to jobs and send their resumes to companies, they follow a traditional process during the pre-employment process. Before they reach the job interview stage, companies require a specific set of skills and core competencies for each job and they hire candidates that closely match their skill requirements based on their resumes. For the specialty job market that requires a much more specialized set of skills like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) jobs, companies are seeing a rapid decline in quality applicants for these specialty jobs. The reason behind this sharp decline is that candidates are not adequately being prepared for specialty jobs, which means they don’t possess the required skills and training for the jobs. This is very prevalent with STEM jobs, which is why this is a lucrative field to professionally immerse yourself in. The job opportunities are endless! Companies experience a gap in skills between what they require and what potential employees offer in terms of skills. In order for companies to stop this cycle of a skills gap, they are beginning to rethink their talent acquisition and recruiting strategies in an effort to attract and retain talent for specialty jobs. What does that mean for you as a job seeker? It means consider taking advantage of the skills gap in companies by getting into these specialized fields and growing your knowledge base so you can get in on the ground floor.
Training & Professional Development Opportunities within Companies
STEM jobs are a part of the emerging job market that offer very competitive salaries, benefits, longevity, and career growth potential. The stability of careers in these fields has rapidly increased over the last few years due to the lack of qualified candidates in these fields. If companies can onboard talent that fits their mold, it behooves the companies to remain competitive in terms of salary and benefits. In an effort to overcome this hurdle of a lack of candidates for specialty jobs, companies are coming up with creative ways to attract, retain, and promote top-performing talent from within. It is in a company’s best interest to retool their talent acquisition strategy while sourcing viable candidates with growth potential internally. If a company can review a candidate’s resume and see that he or she possesses the foundation to build on within their company long-term, the result is a win-win situation for the company and the talent. This gives companies the opportunity to train and develop their talent instead of buying new talent that may not exist in the marketplace. Companies are seeing that a candidate’s potential is far more relevant than a specific pedigree that they may have previously required. Once a company can establish the core competencies needed for a specialized job, they can hire talent that exhibit these core skills while training and developing them for future growth. The company wins because they can decrease talent acquisition costs and improve business continuity while leveraging their existing talent. The talent wins because it improves their morale with a sense of accomplishment and allows them the opportunity to reap the benefits of career growth internally while positively contributing to the greater good of the company.
A lot of companies are establishing career pathways via training and professional development programs as soon as they onboard new talent, which will definitely help with long-term talent retention. As STEM jobs are constantly evolving and growing, so must the talent and their skill set. Employees are given the opportunity to update their skills and learn new ones via the training and professional development programs. Any time you have the opportunity to learn new skills, always be sure to update your resume as well. The best part is that now companies are fully supporting this professional growth from a financial standpoint. The burden is no longer on the employee to pay for professional development and skill enrichment programs. When a company covers the cost of training and developing its talent, it motivates employees to continue their upward career mobility internally rather than seeking opportunities at a competitor company. From a resume perspective, it would also be a good time to create a career change resume if the skills you learned touch on a different area of business or STEM that you want to pursue.
As a job seeker, are you wondering how you can leverage the skills gap in the workforce to your advantage within companies? With the growth and emergence of STEM jobs, those are some of the most stable fields to get into right now in the job market. The growth potential is skyrocketing because of the lack of qualified candidates to perform these jobs. This may also be your chance to take part in the gig economy while you learn new skills. As a job seeker, you have the opportunity to get your foot in the door with a company that has a reputation for promoting from within. When a company invests in its talent through training and professional development, this is a huge sign that you will have room for long-term growth within a company.